Truth in Someone Else
by Angevon
Summary: Over the course of three months, Yosuke comes to terms with the feelings he has for his best friend. [P4HeroXYosuke] [Both 'Souji' and 'Yu' versions are available!]
1. Like Amazake

[Author's Note: I originally posted a series of ten P4 Hero/Yosuke stories as separate stories here on ffnet. Since it was difficult for people to find the next one to read in the series, I've combined them now into this single one. Each chapter is a different story in the series, so you can easily read them in order now!

I want to thank everyone who favorited, followed, and left reviews for the original postings. Those are likely lost to the ether now, and I am sorry about that. But everyone is free to leave new reviews here for any chapter!

About the series: It takes place after December events in-game and therefore contains spoilers up to and beyond that point. **It is focused on boy's love** (mostly Yosuke's developing feelings for his best friend), but I promise it's clean, just hugs and kisses. The title of the series comes from part of a line in the full version of the song "Shadow World" which is the opening movie theme for Persona 4: Golden.

The first chapter here is is based on the New Years cutscene in Persona 4: Golden. Amazake is a sweet drink made of fermented rice often served during New Years celebrations.

A Yu Narukami version of the entire series is available at Dreamwidth at the following address:  
angevon dot dreamwidth dot org/18568 dot html  
Every 'dot' should be a '.'

Please enjoy!]

* * *

"5!"

"4!"

"3!"

"2!"

"1!"

"Happy New Year!"

Yosuke cheered with everyone, and, since he was still disappointed that the girls weren't wearing their kimonos to celebrate the holiday, he jokingly told Rise she couldn't have any of the amazake she'd been asking for earlier. He told Yukiko the same thing, trying to get a rise out her, but, as usual, she wasn't paying attention.

Then Chie noticed the light snowflakes drifting peacefully to the ground, and they all craned their heads towards the sky. It was snowing; the weather was finally back to normal—no more fog-filled days and nights.

They each took a cup of amazake from the old man tending the shrine, and talked about simple things while sipping it together: memories of the past year, plans for the new year. Yosuke was adamant about having a ski trip if the snow piled up high enough, and Yukiko mentioned that if it couldn't happen, they could at least enjoy the hot springs at her family's inn since they would be warm and running all winter long.

After they finished their amazake, Naoto yawned and noted that it was getting late. Kanji volunteered to walk her home, and Rise joined them since she did not live far from the shrine. Chie went with Yukiko because she was staying at the Amagi Inn for the holidays to help out, and Teddie somehow finagled an invitation to stay with them for the night, leaving Yosuke alone with Souji.

Yosuke picked up the empty cups left behind, and offered to take Souji's. "You done with that, partner?" Souji nodded and handed it to him.

Yosuke tossed the cups into a nearby trash can. He thought sourly about lecturing Rise for leaving her trash behind the next time they met. He had to clean up after people often enough at Junes to make it a sore point with him. She'd probably just find a way to make fun of him if he brought it up, though.

He turned back to Souji to find that his friend had moved to the front of the shrine's offertory box, apparently making a wish.

Yosuke stifled a yawn and decided to wait for him. It was already late—what harm could staying out just a little longer do? He wanted to say goodnight, at least, or maybe walk home with his friend.

It was kinda funny, really. Souji was always the one walking people home. Yosuke remembered how he'd walked Naoto home practically every day for two weeks straight back in October. Had he been a bit jealous that Souji was hanging out with the new kid? Nah... With Naoto being a detective, they had probably been discussing the case, or the mystery of the TV World, Persona, and Naoto's newfound role in the team.

Yosuke warmed his hands with his breath. He should have worn gloves; it was a cold night. At least the snow had already stopped falling. He looked around. The shrine was now pretty much empty; everyone else celebrating there had gone home for the night.

Souji finished his prayer and turned around. He blinked in surprise at seeing Yosuke, and then put on a faintly puzzled smile. It was a bit awkward that he was still here, wasn't it? Yosuke shrugged it off with a greeting. "Happy New Year, partner."

Souji's smile became more genuine. "Happy New Year. But... you can go home now." He looked around, noting the empty shrine. "It's pretty late."

Yosuke tilted his head to the side in a shrug. "Well, I just wanted... to say thanks, again. I mean, I know I told you on the phone the other day, but... We really did it, right? We stopped the murders... and we saved the world. It's all thanks to you, you know, partner."

"It was nothing special."

Yosuke punched him lightly on the arm, to little effect because of the layers of clothing Souji was wearing to keep out the cold. "Dude, you're too modest. Without you I would've been eaten by those Shadows that second time we went into the TV World. Hell, and every time after that. You're something special."

Souji was quiet, looking at him speculatively. He then threw his arms wide open for a hug. Yosuke gave him a strange look. "Happy New Year," Souji said by way of explanation.

"Oh, fine." Yosuke stepped into the hug, feeling a little silly. He patted his friend warmly on the back. "Happy New Year."

Before it became too awkward, he tried to step back, but... Souji wasn't letting go.

His mind began to reel. He knew the boy was a hugger. Hell, Yosuke'd been hugged by him before, back on the flood plain when he'd let out all his hurt and frustration over Saki-senpai. He'd been so pissed—not at the hug, but about Saki-senpai's senseless death—but... but... he had also been glad Souji had been there, to be a shoulder for him to cry onto. Only Souji could be allowed to see him that weak, and not judge him afterward.

Souji probably hugged Nanako-chan several times a day, but that's okay, she was his little cousin. But Souji had hugged lots of girls, too, according to the rumor mill, usually right after they'd confessed their love for him, only for him to tell them that he wasn't interested in being more than friends. Yosuke had assumed he was letting them down gently, since he'd be moving away from Inaba in the spring, but... he could at least have a little fling, right?

It was a bit strange, actually, Yosuke thought. Souji had plenty of girls to choose from. Ai-san, Marie-chan, that girl in band who played the trombone... And Rise made it no secret that she had a thing for him. But he was like a male version of Yukiko, or something. Heartbreaker Souji. Heh. Maybe he should coin that as a nickname for him.

"Uh, partner?" Yosuke said.

"Yosuke..." Souji mumbled into his shoulder. "I couldn't have done it without you."

Yosuke felt his face warm up. It was maybe a good thing they were still in a tight embrace so that Souji couldn't see him blushing. His friend didn't need to know how good it felt for him to hear that. "Y-yeah, well..."

He shifted in the embrace and hoped his headphones weren't being crushed, although they'd endured worse over the past year, since he'd worn them even when fighting Shadows in the TV World. And Souji would probably be careful; he knew how important they were to him.

The winter jackets they wore were bulky and in the way, but... Yosuke felt safe in his friend's arms. Souji was _strong_. Katana training and soccer practice had given him a lithe, muscular body, and he was tall, and he was always in control of every situation. And with his special Persona abilities, he was a master of combat, able to take on any role on the fly and adapt to any strategy needed.

Yosuke had been envious of him for so long, but November had changed that. When Nanako-chan had been kidnapped, he'd seen his friend at his most vulnerable. Yosuke had longed to support him, but he didn't know how, and he'd been afraid... So he promised himself that he'd stay by Souji's side until they finally caught the bastard that did it. Partners to the end, right?

And then December had come around, and Souji had stopped Yosuke from making the worst mistake of his life... stopped him from becoming a murderer himself.

They'd never talked about it again, but he'd always be grateful.

So, he could endure Souji's strange behavior quirks, like reading every book ever given to him, even magical girl manga, or contributing to Inaba's growing cat infestation... or hugging him quite a bit longer than appropriate.

"Umm, partner?" Yosuke repeated. There was no reply. Had Souji fallen asleep in his arms? He might be tired enough—the exhaustion from the last few months had to be be piling up on him, what with juggling training time in the TV World, finding that bastard murderer, working at all his part-time jobs, staying on top of his schoolwork, worrying over both Nanako-chan and Dojima-san in the hospital...

He could feel Souji's calm, rhythmic breathing. He really might have fallen asleep. Oh, man, that would be so awkward.

And... cute.

Shit, he was going to make _himself_ blush! Where had that thought come from?

"Err..."

Souji sighed and pulled away, but his hands remained on Yosuke's arms, and he peered at Yosuke's face with just inches between them. He blinked tiredly and seemed to be searching for something.

"Umm, S-Souji..." Damn, now Yosuke couldn't hide the blush creeping over him. Why was his friend so close to him? But like hell if he was going to back down. He defiantly stared back.

Those gray eyes always reminded him of the overcast sky on a drizzly day. Although a bit dreary, those days were usually peaceful in Inaba. The light rain made everything seem cleaner somehow, made the grass greener the next day, the flowers more fragrant and colorful.

Souji wasn't a bad-looking guy, even with his silly bowl-cut hair. Yosuke couldn't fault Rise's taste at all. Or any of the other girls, really... N-not that he was looking, or anything! Yosuke bit his lower lip and turned his head away. "Dude, you're too close," he mumbled.

Souji slowly removed his hands from Yosuke's arms and stepped back. "Oh... I'm sorry."

"Nah, it's all right." Yosuke wiped his forehead, brushing back some of his light brown hair. How was he sweating in this cold? He shook his head and crossed his arms, assuming his most natural—and hug-resistant—pose.

Now his friend was staring at him like a lost puppy, or something. Well, probably kitten, knowing him.

It was... kind of adorable.

No! Weird. It was _weird!_

Yosuke shook his head again. What the heck was wrong with him? He was pretty sure the drinks had been non-alcoholic... Besides, they'd each only had one.

Souji sighed. "Goodnight, Yosuke," he said, and he started to walk past him towards the street in front of the shrine.

It all clicked into place in Yosuke's head, and before he knew it he was pulling on his friend's sleeve to stop him from leaving. "W-wait!" he called. Souji stopped, and Yosuke wheeled him around and pulled him into another embrace.

"But we already hugged for the New Year..." Souji whispered.

"Dumbass!" Yosuke said, and he pressed his lips to his friend's mouth.

He didn't know why he did it. Maybe he'd always thought this way about Souji. Yeah, probably, somewhere buried deep within... He could admit it now. But he was pretty sure that this was what Souji'd been trying to get him to do a few minutes ago.

And by the boy's response, he was right. Souji kissed him back, gently at first, as if afraid of spooking him, and then with growing feeling. Yeah, with that passion there was no denying this was what he had wanted. Yosuke felt like his face was so warm that it could melt all the snow around them.

Yosuke broke the kiss and buried his face against his friend's shoulder. "S-Souji," he said, trembling. He could feel Souji's right hand mussing his hair, and his left was stroking his back. He didn't know what to do or say next... so he said, "Dude, you taste like amazake..."

"You taste like warm," Souji replied.

"'Warm'? That's not even a flavor!"

"And amazake, too," Souji conceded.

Yosuke was wondering what to say next when he felt warm skin on his hands; Souji had taken them into his own. Souji brought them up to his lips, and then breathed softly on them to warm them up. "Ah, no, that's..." Yosuke murmured. His hands tingled... This was a bit much for him; his body was responding in ways he wasn't quite ready for.

As if sensing that, Souji let him go and stepped away, the warmth of his body so close to his suddenly withdrawing. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"H-hey...!" Yosuke called after him, but he was too flustered by what had happened to stop him this time.

He watched Souji leave the shrine, the snow gently beginning to fall once again, the taste of amazake lingering on his lips.


	2. Sliding Scale

[Summary: Yosuke tries to resolve his newfound feelings for Souji, but it's hard because, dammit, he is not gay.]

* * *

 _I'm not gay,_ Yosuke told himself for the umpteenth time this morning.

He scowled at his cell phone, flipped it open, and scrolled down to Souji's name to call him and _tell him just that,_ only to slam it closed before executing the call. He tossed the phone aside on his bed in frustration.

He was so damned confused. He hadn't slept much at all since, well, _last night,_ when he and his best friend had somehow ended up kissing after the New Years Eve celebration. He'd been thinking about it nonstop, and now even his favorite songs playing through his headphones weren't giving him any peace.

People said that the "firsts" of a new year were significant.

Dammit, he wasn't gay! That hug and kiss should never have happened. It was just the result of, of, of being overexcited for the new year.

Yeah.

But damn, all things considered, Souji had been a good kisser...

"Argh," Yosuke said, rubbing his tired face.

It seemed like the only good thing going for him today was that Teddie was still out with Chie and Yukiko, so he could agonize over this in peace. Though it was only a matter of time before Chie called him to take the bear back.

He had to sort things out with Souji before then.

It still took him quite a while longer to muster up the courage to call. It was New Years Day, anyway. Souji was probably spending the morning with Nanako-chan, since she had to return to the hospital once the holidays were over. Yosuke didn't want to interrupt their family time—at least, that was his excuse for putting the call off until after lunch. And he ended up volunteering to do the dishes afterward, much to his mother's surprise, just to waste more time.

Then he really couldn't put it off any longer, and he finally—painfully—made the call. Souji answered on the third ring, as he tended to. "H-hey, partner," Yosuke began, hating himself for the stutter but unable to control it. Damn, it was just too awkward. And he had no idea how to continue from there.

 _Hey, remember last night...?_

 _Did you get any sleep? 'Cause I sure didn't._

 _Dude, I can't stop thinking about you._

Shit, no, none of those were any good.

 _We need to talk._ Well, yeah, it was true, but that made it sound like they were in a serious relationship or something. Which they totally weren't.

"Yosuke. Let's go somewhere," Souji said, mercifully interrupting his thoughts.

Yosuke breathed a sigh of relief—this was familiar ground. "Oh, uh, all right. Maybe... Okina?"

"I'd like to go to a hot springs. Yukiko mentioned it last night. Sounded nice."

The thought of Souji wearing only a bath towel flitted through his traitorous mind before he could shut it down. Yosuke emitted a strangled noise. _"No."_

He could sense Souji's amusement on the other end of the line. He could also imagine the light smile playing on his friend's face. It had been a joke.

It was so hard to tell with that boy, sometimes.

"The beach?" Souji suggested, apparently serious this time.

"Dude, it's winter. No one's going to be at the bea..." Yosuke trailed off, realizing that was exactly the point. "Yeah, okay."

* * *

Yosuke found Souji sitting cross-legged on the sand, quietly looking out to sea. His thick winter jacket was lazily unbuttoned despite the chill weather. It never ceased to amaze Yosuke how his friend could look so casual in every situation, even here, sitting on the lonely beach in his full winter clothing.

Yosuke dropped down right beside him and stretched his legs out, noting with annoyance the sand already beginning to cling to his clothes. His mom would chew him out later for it. The cold wetness of the half-melted snow unpleasantly seeped into the seat of his pants. Yeah, maybe the beach hadn't been the best idea. Maybe he should've just gone with the hot springs...

He scowled at the sky. It wasn't snowing yet, but the gray-white blanket of clouds covering the sky promised that it would, soon enough.

Gray-white, like Souji's eyes and hair...

He nearly jumped when Souji took his hand in his. "H-hey," he protested, but the other boy was still looking at the ocean. He could feel Souji's fingers trying to intertwine with his own, but it wasn't working because he'd reflexively balled his hand up into a fist.

Souji noticed his tension, but it didn't seem to perturb him. He gently released Yosuke's hand, then wrapped his arm around Yosuke's back and leaned his body in close.

Yosuke's heart raced, but Souji was calmly watching the light surf, like it was perfectly natural that they were sharing body heat.

Well, maybe it _was_ perfectly natural...

Oh, hell no. Realizing what he'd just thought, Yosuke quickly twisted himself free and scooted several feet away from Souji and then turned his back on his friend. "I'm not..."

He couldn't understand it.

He wasn't... He wasn't gay...

And apparently Souji was? It was so hard to believe, something he'd never, _ever_ suspected until last night.

Yosuke had tried hard not to think about it. Souji was always going out with girls, although it never seemed to be serious. But he also spent a lot of time with Kou and Daisuke, and everyone knew those two were... Then again, Souji spent a lot of time with _everyone_ so it was really difficult to judge.

And now Souji liked him?

Why me...? Yosuke thought. Why not... like, Kanji?

Because... they were partners. They'd been partners since Souji'd pulled him out of that damned trash can ages ago. Since they'd fallen into the TV at Junes together.

Besides, Kanji was into Naoto like Chie was into Yukiko.

But damn it, Souji was his best friend. His _best friend._

He could feel his 'best friend' silently staring a hole in his back. "Souji, I..." he started, but stopped.

"It's all right."

"No, dude, it's not. I'm not... I'm not gay." Yosuke scowled at his own words. There, it was out there.

After a contemplative pause, Souji said, "Sexuality is actually on a sliding scale."

Yosuke blinked. "What the hell are you..."

"I read it in a book."

Of course. In addition to being a hugger, Souji was a reader, too.

"The world doesn't have absolutes," Souji continued, "when it comes to romance. Well, maybe there are some people firmly on either end, but most are caught in the middle, and—"

"What the hell are you trying to say?" Yosuke demanded. "That people change? I am not—"

"I'm saying," Souji went on calmly, "that you shouldn't be afraid."

"Afraid?" Yosuke scoffed, trying to dismiss his friend's words as nonsense.

Souji tugged lightly at his sleeve. Yosuke nearly jumped; he hadn't even heard his friend approach!

"Aren't you?" Souji said.

Yosuke shuddered and shook his head. He couldn't think when Souji was right there. Not about this.

Souji let him go. When Yosuke glanced back, his friend was looking out to sea again.

"I was afraid, too," Souji admitted, his voice barely audible over the surf and wind, "when I first realized I liked you, Yosuke." He turned his head and smiled sadly at him.

"...When was that?" Yosuke didn't really want to know, but he was too fascinated not to ask. It would definitely be creepy if it'd started like, way back in June, and Souji had been nursing a crush on him for months and months and...

"When we visited Nanako in the hospital together a few weeks ago, just the two of us. She called you 'Yosuke-nii' and you told her all those jokes and stories to keep her mind off the pain." Souji turned his gaze to the sky, a light smile playing on his face. "It... made my day."

Yosuke snorted, but it didn't stop there—it was just too damned funny. His shoulders rocked as he tried to contain the laughter overcoming him. Hot tears of amusement fell from his eyes as he failed to stop the Yukiko-like laughing fit. "Oh my god," he eventually managed between gasps for breath. Almost all of the tension he'd felt in this conversation dried up; he'd really needed this outlet.

Souji was looking at him with curious concern.

"It's just... so you," he explained while wiping the tears from his eyes. "That it involves Nanako-chan..."

"You were so sweet then," Souji said thoughtfully. "Like amazake."

"Dude, don't remind me of the amazake." Damn, was his face turning red again? He blushed way too easily. Yosuke licked his lips for any remnants of the sweet drink, but of course it was gone by now, that had been _hours_ ago, what was he thinking?

A chill wind blew and bit at his ears, and his nose was beginning to feel numb. It reminded of how warm and safe he'd felt in Souji's arms last night... "I'm not gay," he repeated, as if to ward off these thoughts.

Souji sighed heavily. "I know," he said. "I'm sorry. I've made you uncomfortable." He stood up and walked towards Yosuke. "You're still my best friend. We can forget all about this. We can go back to how it used to be between us. And you'll still be my best friend—that will never change. All right?" He held out his hand to seal the deal.

Yosuke opened his mouth to say, 'Dude, I can't just forget,' but Souji probably meant every word. He would be able to act like nothing had ever happened between them. That's just how he was. But Yosuke sure as hell wouldn't be able to.

Instead of taking his hand, Yosuke drew his knees together and curled up into a ball. "It's not going to work," he mumbled from somewhere between his knees.

"Yosuke?" Souji's voice had a hint of panic to it. He was worried... worried about losing his best friend.

Yosuke wondered if Souji was still reaching his hand out to him—but he didn't look up. He kept his head down, staring at the sand between his feet. "I didn't say that I'm not interested."

He could almost hear Souji's breath catch in his throat. "Yosuke?"

Augh, why did Souji make him feel this way?

Because... because, damn it, he was interested too, that's why.

He lifted his head and looked his friend in the eyes—those beautiful, stormy gray eyes. "I like you too, all right? I think. I don't know, I'm not sure. I..." He swallowed. "I'd like to find out?"

Souji's shoulders sagged in relief, and he was smiling uncertainly—hopefully. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. But," Yosuke said quickly, "let's not tell anyone else, all right?"

Souji nodded so fast that it was almost embarrassing.

"Cool... Now come down here and give me a hug, dammit. I'm cold." Yosuke blushed and turned his head away once more.

The hug may have turned into a kiss—or several kisses—but he didn't complain.


	3. What's Wrong With Hearts?

[Summary: Souji is caught drawing hearts in his notebook. The girls are confused and Yosuke is embarrassed.]

* * *

"Will you hand this back to Souji-kun, Chie?" Yukiko asked after school one afternoon. She'd been sick the last few days, and the team leader had let her borrow his notebook to copy the notes for the lessons she'd missed. She held the notebook out, but her friend wasn't quite paying attention and it slipped out of her hands and into the aisle between their desks.

"Ah, sorry!" Chie exclaimed. With a sigh she reached down and picked the notebook up, idly glancing at the page it had opened up to. "Oh, hey! Gosh, Yukiko, I didn't know you had a crush on Souji-kun."

"Wait, what?" said Yosuke, overhearing them and wanting the scoop.

"I don't," Yukiko replied with a puzzled frown.

"Huh? Then who drew all these hearts all over Souji-kun's math notes?" Chie held open the notebook and pointed to a particularly large one.

"Let me see that!" Yosuke grabbed the notebook right out of her hands. His face blanched as he looked through it. "Haha, wow... That's a lot of hearts..."

"What's up?" Rise asked, confidently walking into the classroom as if she belonged there—it wasn't unusual for her to stop by after school if she was bored and planned to commandeer Souji's attention for the afternoon. She zeroed in on the congregation around Chie's desk. "Huh? Someone drew hearts in Senpai's notebook?"

"Those were there when I borrowed the notebook," Yukiko said. "I didn't draw them."

"Whaaaa!" Rise squealed. "Look, they're drawn with the same pen that Senpai uses. Senpai... Did you draw these yourself!?"

"Souji-kun...?" As one, their eyes turned to their gray-haired team leader, who was engrossed in copying notes from the board into a different notebook and apparently hadn't heard the entire conversation going on around him.

"Hearts... Could it be?" Rise asked. "Senpai's... in love?"

"Haha." Yosuke laughed nervously. "He was probably thinking of Nanako-chan."

"Hmm?" said Souji, briefly looking up from his writing. "Oh. Yeah, I drew those."

The girls collectively gasped, except Yukiko who didn't quite understand what the big deal was.

"But who were you thinking of when you drew them?" Rise demanded with an excited squeal. She almost ripped the notebook in her hurry to tear it away from Yosuke's hands. She immediately began to scour it for any signs of a name or initials next to any of the hearts.

There weren't any.

"Wow," said Chie. "Souji-kun... I noticed you've been spacing out in class lately, but I didn't think it was because you have a crush on someone."

"Who?" Yukiko asked.

"Probably someone from Okina," Chie mused. "If it was a Yasogami student, well, everyone would know."

"I just wanted to draw some hearts. Is that a problem?" Souji sounded very put out.

At his words, Rise immediately dropped the notebook and grabbed Souji's collar and pulled him forward until their foreheads were almost touching. "Whyyyyyy hearts?" she hissed.

"Yeah, really, Souji-kun," Chie chimed in. "That is a bit weird, even for you. I mean, Valentine's Day is over a month away, so that's no excuse. Umm, Rise, maybe you should put him down, I don't know if he can breathe..."

"I like hearts," Souji said after he had settled back into his seat and readjusted his collar. "What's wrong with drawing some hearts?"

"But, but this isn't just 'some' hearts, Senpai! They're on every page!" Rise cried. "It obviously means something! If you have a girlfriend, I'll..."

"I didn't think about that," said Chie. "That it could be an _actual_ girlfriend. Huh... I'm still kind of stunned. You look pretty stunned too, Yosuke. I guess Souji-kun didn't tell you who the lucky girl is?"

"Huh? Oh... Yeah, partner! You keeping secrets from me?" Yosuke laughed, but it came out a little strangled.

"Maybe we should get Naoto-kun in on this mystery!" Chie suggested.

"Nah... I don't think she'd be interested in something like this," Yosuke said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"You'd be surprised," Yukiko murmured.

When it became obvious that Souji wasn't going to give up more information on why he'd drawn the hearts, the three girls united by leaving the school together—without Souji. Yosuke watched them go with his arms crossed. _Probably going to get Rise some comfort food,_ Yosuke thought. He knew it was a cruel thought, but he didn't feel particularly bad about thinking it.

He sighed and watched Souji finish copying the notes from the board. "Man, you haven't got it all down yet?" he asked. "The last bell rang a half an hour ago, at least."

"I'm just putting on a finishing touch..." Souji said without looking up.

"Well, will you hurry it up? This classroom's the last place I wanna hang out at. We've already been here all day, you know?"

A quick glance around the room told him that all the other students had left for the day, which was a bit strange. Usually there were a couple of girls at least who stayed a while longer to chat by the shelves at the back of the room, but maybe Rise and Chie's shouts had made them go elsewhere. Yosuke couldn't blame them.

"You can't rush art," Souji insisted.

"...What? We don't even have an art class... No, don't tell me..." Yosuke peered at Souji's notes, and then groaned. "More hearts?"

"My Japanese Literature notebook needs to be decorated, too," Souji explained, as if it made perfect sense. It probably did, to him. " _Heart_ -ily decorated... haha."

Yosuke stared at him. Had Souji been spending too much time with Teddie? Because _that_ had sounded very unlike him. He decided to ignore it. "Hearts? Come on, partner... That's just embarrassing."

"If the teacher caught me drawing what was really on my mind, I'd have detention."

Yosuke chuckled nervously. "But really, man, hearts?"

"What's wrong with hearts?" Souji finally stopped thickening the outline of his latest heart to look up at him with a hurt expression, as if he'd expected Yosuke to understand, even if the girls hadn't.

"I dunno... It's just..."

"You don't like them?"

Ah, shit... Yosuke recognized that tone of voice. It meant he'd already put one foot in it... and there was no going back. "It's a bit... girly. You're acting like a schoolgirl. I mean, not that I don't like that you're thinking of... of me... umm..."

"Girly." Souji's voice held no emotion.

"It's, ah, not really a bad thing, but just..." Yosuke waved his hands vaguely. "I dunno, maybe you could tone it down a bit, partner? It seemed a bit overboard? How can you even study your notes with all that, uh, distraction...?"

"It's not like I colored them pink and red. They're just in black pen. But... you really don't like them? If you think that's 'girly,' I guess I shouldn't even show you... Umm..."

Yosuke blinked and uncrossed his arms. "Wait... Show me what?"

Souji avoided his eyes by staring fixedly at the empty desk to his left. "You won't like it. It's girly."

"Hey, now, don't be like that," Yosuke protested. "You can't tell me you wanted to show me something and then just not."

"You'll laugh."

"I... Well, I can't promise I won't, but I'd still like to see it, whatever it is."

Souji sighed and took something out of his pocket and gingerly handed it out to Yosuke while still avoiding his eyes. Yosuke took it into his hands and stared down at it.

In his palm was a knitted brown rabbit with floppy ears. It wore a Yasogami High uniform, complete with tiny buttons that bore the school's emblem. It sported a miniature set of orange and black headphones. It had brown button eyes, and a fluffy cotton tail was sticking out of the seat of its pants.

It was... very elaborate.

Yosuke carefully set it down on Souji's desk. "Dude, I don't know what to say..."

"His name is Hop-suke," Souji said, watching him from the corner of his eyes.

Yosuke snickered. "Hop-suke Bunny-mura?"

"Sure." Souji smiled shyly at him.

"It's... actually pretty awesome, partner," said Yosuke. "I've gotta say. I can't believe you asked Kanji to make this. He even got the coloration of my headphones just right."

Souji laughed, a strange tittering sound that was so rare to hear.

Yosuke gave him a puzzled look. "What's so funny?"

"Kanji didn't make that. I did."


	4. All Over

[Summary: Souji likes to touch, and Yosuke is getting used to it. Slowly.]

* * *

Souji really liked Yosuke.

Which was fine. _Totally fine._ Yosuke liked him too. Yosuke also liked being liked.

But Souji was, maybe... too affectionate, sometimes.

Like now.

They were sitting next to each other at the Investigation Team's regular meeting place, the Junes food court. Yukiko and Chie were directly across from them, and Souji was completely distracting him from whatever they were talking about by rubbing his hand under the table. It took all of Yosuke's concentration to keep his face neutral.

"—Right, Yosuke?" Chie was saying.

"...Huh?" Yosuke blinked and tried to stop focusing on the feel of his hand under Souji's ministrations.

"Geez, why do I even bother with you sometimes?" Chie complained.

Yosuke shot Souji a quick, dark look. "Sorry... What were you saying?"

Souji's shoulders were heaving; he was trying not to laugh. Yosuke wanted to kick him under the table, but that would draw even more attention to them.

"I suppose it means I'm a bit more at home with myself," Yukiko said. "Or maybe I'm becoming more aggressive? I'm not sure..."

"...What are you even talking about?" Yosuke asked, thankful for the distraction from the distraction.

" _We_ were talking about how Konohana Sakuya is now Amaterasu," Chie said, "and wondering what it says about Yukiko."

"Oh. Right," said Yosuke. "Well, the new one does have a sword... but the old one was prettier."

Chie opened her mouth wide in surprise. "You think so too!?"

"Well, I dunno, it looked like a dancing flower and—"

Yosuke paused for just a second because—

 _Dammit Souji what the hell are you doing with my hand?_

—he was distracted again.

He rushed ahead to finish his thought. "—and it was pink like Yukiko's yukata!"

 _Pink as my face right now,_ he added as Souji continued to knead the back of his hand and play with his fingers, or whatever the hell he was doing.

"Not all of my yukata are pink." Yukiko sniffed. "I think Amaterasu's blades are more elegant. But I don't think a Persona's appearance is that important."

There was a pause in the conversation until Yosuke realized both girls were looking at him. "What?" he demanded, extra cross because Souji _wouldn't stop._

"Frog Prince Yosuke," said Chie.

"Hey, Jiraiya was cool," Yosuke muttered. Souji squeezed his hand in apparent support. Yosuke fought to keep his eyes from straying downward to see what that boy was doing—not that he could see through the table. He shifted restlessly in his seat and hoped his partner would get bored before he snapped.

"Yeah, but if anyone kisses you, they might get warts!" Chie said. She laughed good-naturedly and nudged Yukiko.

"If that were true, I think I'd know," Souji whispered so that only Yosuke could hear. A flush formed on Yosuke's cheeks that he couldn't prevent. Aloud, Souji said, "In mythology, Susano-o is Amaterasu's brother."

Chie looked from Yosuke to Yukiko and back again, as if scrutinizing a family resemblance.

Souji added, "And they both spawned from Izanagi."

"Let me guess," Yosuke said. "You read it in a book."

Souji's eyes gleamed.

"It's actually common knowledge," Yukiko murmured.

"Whatever, I'm out," said Yosuke. He'd had enough of Souji's attention for the moment, so he stood up but nearly fell over in the sudden movement because Souji hadn't expected him to get up and hadn't let go of his hand. Yosuke recovered quickly and ran off before anyone could figure out why he'd been so clumsy.

* * *

"Partner..." Yosuke said on the phone later that night. "You have to stop doing that."

"Doing what?" asked Souji.

Ugh, did he have to spell it out? "Look, I don't mind when you, uhh, h-hold my hand, but... the rubbing..."

"Oh."

That was all Souji said. Yosuke cringed and hoped he hadn't hurt his friend's feelings. "Look, it's not that I didn't like it," he tried to explain, "but it almost gave us away, and we don't want that, right?"

Souji's "Right" sounded uncertain and took longer than it should have in coming.

For such a smart guy, the team leader could be really thick about some things. Yosuke sighed heavily into his cell phone's receiver. "Souji..."

"You're my boyfriend," said Souji. "I want to touch you."

"Boyfriend!?"

"Yep. We hug and kiss and hold hands. We're dating."

"We're not..." Yosuke protested, but he paused.

"And I even cook for you sometimes." Souji sounded quite proud of it.

It took a short while for it to come together in Yosuke's head. "Huh, we are dating, aren't we?" Yosuke wasn't as upset about it as he thought he'd be. Dating. His best friend. Huh.

"Mmm-hmm," Souji said. Yosuke blushed at how unintentionally seductive it sounded.

"W-well, let's still keep it from everyone else."

Souji made a disapproving noise.

 _"Souji!"_

"Chie and Yukiko wouldn't mind that we're dating," Souji said softly.

"No way!" Yosuke exclaimed. "Are you kidding me? Chie would never let me live it down!"

"Fine. We can keep it a secret. Our _dirty_ secret."

"What are you even saying? It doesn't have to be dirty." Yosuke loosened his jacket's collar. He was getting sweaty all of a sudden. "It's just, I mean—we've got to figure each other out before we can be open about it. We've only just started... dating..."

"I want to touch you, Yosuke. You're my boyfriend." Souji had said the same thing earlier, but somehow the inflection this time was far more suggestive, and the temperature in Yosuke's room now seemed a few degrees higher.

"Look, I'll come over tomorrow after school, okay?" Yosuke said while fidgeting with his headphones. "Then you can... touch me all you want."

Souji positively purred on the other end of the line before hanging up.

Yosuke stared at the phone in his hand for a bit before deciding he needed a cold shower.

* * *

On most days Yosuke was pretty happy that he sat behind Souji in class. He could get answers from his friend, or poke him with his pen when he got bored. Sometimes he threw bits of paper into Souji's collar just to see his puzzled look when he stood up after class and a cascade of paper fell over his shoulders.

Today was different, though, because seeing that silver-gray hair all day in front of him just made him think of their after-school plans, which was way too exciting to think about in a school environment.

Souji was excited too, he could tell. Souji dropped his pen on the floor a few more times than normal just to glance back at him with a barely-hidden smile while he picked it back up.

Unfortunately, Souji had already made plans to spend his lunch period with Naoto, so they couldn't talk during it. Souji apologized, but Yosuke told him it was cool. He wasn't bothered by it at all—his mom had packed him a lunch—but he still felt a guilty thrill when he spotted his friend by the stairwell later rejecting everyone who asked to spend the afternoon with him.

As the afternoon classes trudged on, though, Yosuke began to get nervous. What exactly had he signed up for? Was going to Souji's house too forward? Were they going too fast? How much touching would Souji want to do... and, umm, where? What if they ended up in his bedroom? And in all honesty, Yosuke was still getting used to simply holding hands under the table...

* * *

Souji's tongue was in his mouth.

Yosuke almost pushed him away when he realized it—too fast, much too fast!—but he was still processing that it was even there, and his mind, in its disbelief, couldn't seem to keep up. So he just... sort of let it happen.

It wasn't an unpleasant experience, anyway. Souji tasted faintly like blueberry Topsicle, which was odd because they hadn't had any Topsicles all day. And Souji's little contented murmurs had a strangely musical lilt to them that made Yosuke happy to hear them. In fact, Yosuke found himself kissing back just to hear more.

They were on the small couch in the Dojima living room. They'd started by sitting really close to each other, and then Souji had taken his hand, and then Souji had kissed him on the mouth, and from there Souji had gently pushed him up against one of the far ends of the couch, and Souji was now pressed fairly heavily on top of him. Souji's hands grasped and twisted Yosuke's shirt while they made out. Yosuke's hands were kind of stiffly at his sides because he didn't really know what to do with them and with Souji right there he was kind of pinned down anyway.

Eventually Souji pulled away and rested his head on Yosuke's chest. He hooked one arm over Yosuke's shoulder and then seemed content to stay in that position. Yosuke didn't have the heart to push him away, even though he was losing feeling in his left arm since it was pinned against the couch's armrest. When it began to hurt, he shifted his position just enough to free the arm, which Souji then grabbed to cuddle.

If Yosuke learned one thing from this experience, it was that Souji loved physical contact.

Yosuke wasn't sure what he felt about it, himself. He wasn't really one for touching, but that ran in the family—he could hardly remember the last time his mother had hugged him, but then, from what Yosuke gathered, Souji's family was the same way, so it was strange that Souji had turned out to be so hands-on.

But... hearing Souji breathe, feeling Souji's warmth, being so close to his friend and partner... Yosuke thought he might actually like it.

He felt fingers curl around his shirt collar. Souji seemed to be trying to crawl his hand down the back of his shirt. Yosuke swatted him away irritably with his free hand, and Souji sighed and pulled his hand back, then snuggled against Yosuke's still-captured hand.

After a minute, it didn't seem like Souji was going to move anytime soon. Yosuke noticed his partner's eyes had closed, and his breathing had slowed down considerably.

 _Poor guy's exhausted, and we didn't even do anything, not really..._

A curious impulse hit him, and Yosuke used his free hand to brush away Souji's bangs. Yeah, Souji had eyebrows, and they were that weird silver-gray color, too...

"Yosuke," Souji murmured with his eyes still closed.

Yosuke pulled his hand away, and Souji's bangs fell back over his forehead. "Y-yeah?"

"I like you."

Yosuke's face went red, and he was thankful Souji wasn't looking since it'd be even worse if he was. That Souji could say such a thing without being embarrassed... Yosuke really had no response. He almost shook his head in wonder.

And while Yosuke thought his words over, Souji smiled.

* * *

An alarm went off, interrupting their precious peace. Souji sat up with a sigh and released Yosuke's arm from his grasp. "She'll be home soon," Souji explained.

"Ah..." said Yosuke. "Nanako-chan."

Souji nodded. "She'll be glad to see you. Can you stay for dinner?"

"Well, yeah. I'm not gonna kiss you, then ditch you." Yosuke sucked his teeth; that statement had sounded far less crude in his mind, but fortunately Souji didn't seem bothered by it—a smile was growing on his face. "Especially if you're gonna cook," Yosuke added with a return grin. "I didn't have any of your cooking yet today. What did you make for Naoto, anyway?"

"Mmm. Thai-style egg rolls. She seemed to like them. Today's dinner is going to be oden. Don't worry, I'm not using tofu."

"Thanks, partner."

Yosuke offered to help with the cooking, but Souji, master of his own kitchen, turned him down, so Yosuke stayed on the couch. He thought of putting on his headphones and turning on some music, but it seemed wrong to disturb the peace, so he idly listened to the sounds of Souji moving around in the kitchen; he seemed to be chopping up something for the pot.

He found it surprisingly relaxing here. The Hanamura home was noisy. The phone was always ringing—mostly people wanting to get in contact with his dad concerning the store—his parents often argued, the TV was always on even if no one was watching it...

Souji began to hum some tune that he didn't recognize. Thankfully, it wasn't the Junes theme... He might have to break up with him if it was, haha...

"I'm home! Big bro!"

Yosuke heard Nanako-chan squeal with delight; Souji had probably picked her up in a sweeping embrace. He stood up from the couch and sheepishly walked to the edge of the dining area, trying not to intrude but also wanting to let Nanako-chan know that he was there so it wouldn't be a surprise. Yep, the two cousins were locked in a precious hug.

"Yosuke's staying for dinner," Souji whispered in her ear, loud enough for him to hear.

She turned her head to look at him. "Yosuke-nii!"

When Souji put her down, she rushed to Yosuke's legs and wrapped her arms around them. He hadn't been expecting that! He patted her head affectionately. "Nanako-chan, it's good to see you!"

"Mm-hmm! I'm going to my room now!" She pulled off her pink-and-blue magical girl-themed backpack and ran off.

"I'll trade you Teddie," Yosuke whispered after she was gone.

"No deal," said Souji.

Yosuke took a seat at the dining room table and watched Souji taste the simmering soup in the pot and add a few more shakes of soy sauce to it. Souji hummed and stirred the ladle, and then took out a short stack of bowls from under the counter and placed them side by side. By the way he moved, it was obvious that Souji enjoyed himself while he cooked. Maybe that's what separated him from the girls. They only played at cooking, whereas Souji saw it as just another facet of himself. But it also probably helped that Souji was just naturally—unnaturally?—good at everything, anyway.

"Where'd you learn to cook?" Yosuke asked, curious now.

Souji stopped in mid-stir, surprised at being addressed. He hadn't realized Yosuke was watching him, which made Yosuke suddenly feel like an invader. But Souji turned away from the pot, smiled lightly at him, and said, "I read it in a book."

He said it so seriously that Yosuke didn't realize it was a joke until he started laughing. It was a great sound; Souji didn't laugh often, though he seemed to be doing it more in recent days. "You're so weird," Yosuke complained. "I almost believed that!"

Souji turned back to the pot and toyed with the ladle. "I actually learned it the same way Nanako-chan's learning it." Souji's voice was low and somber; this time it wasn't a joke.

"I'm not sure what you..." Yosuke began, but trailed off as he understood. Dojima-san was often away for dinner, so Nanako-chan was learning to cook all on her own. Then, Souji's own family...

As if on cue, the telephone rang, and Nanako-chan came from her room to answer it. Dojima-san was calling to say he would be late.

The scowl on Nanako-chan's face after hanging up the phone needed to be wiped away, so Yosuke asked her to show him her favorite toy so they could play with it together while Souji finished making dinner. She excitedly led him into her room—which was a typical little girl's room, full of pink and purple and _little girl_ things; Yosuke tried not to think about it. She picked up a purple plush bunny that she called 'Chan-chan' from atop a chair and put it on the floor in the center of the room. She added a few more animals from various shelves, naming them as she took them down. Then she sat on the floor, and Yosuke crouched down next to her and listened while she explained the different animals' relationships to each other. It was all very complicated, but Yosuke did his best to keep it straight in his head so that he could play with her without making a mistake.

At some point she began to point out the animals' accessories to him. "And this one's Chan-chan's favorite," Nanako-chan explained, holding up a little red ribbon, "but she's letting Toko-chan borrow it for now." She wrapped the ribbon around a plush fox's neck.

"What's Chan-chan going to wear instead?" Yosuke asked.

The corners of Nanako-chan's lips curled downward. "I don't have any other ribbons."

Yosuke thought about it for a moment, and then, on impulse, he took his headphones from around his neck and placed them around the plush rabbit's head. "How about that?"

Nanako-chan looked at him in astonishment. "Are you sure, Yosuke-nii?"

"Well, at least until after dinner." He gave her his most disarming smile.

"It's perfect!" Nanako-chan declared, hugging Chan-chan tightly.

Nanako-chan then began to tell him what songs Chan-chan was listening to. As she spoke, the hair on Yosuke's neck suddenly began to rise; he sensed they were being watched. He glanced casually at the door, and sure enough, Souji was standing there, looking directly at _him_ with such undisguised fondness that he had to look away quickly from pure embarrassment.

Yosuke remembered that his concern for Nanako-chan in the hospital was what made Souji realize what he felt for him, and he began to squirm.

"Yosuke-nii, are you all right?" Nanako-chan asked. "Oh, big bro! Is dinner ready?"

"Whenever you two are ready," Souji said, grinning at them.

* * *

Dinner, was, of course, superb. Yosuke never doubted it'd be anything less. The potatoes were just the right softness, the soy was definitely present but not overbearing, and the kelp wasn't chewy...

"Man, how do you do it?" Yosuke asked, shaking his head and holding some konnyaku in his chopsticks.

"The key is lots of practice," Souji said. "I wasn't very good at first. But oden is an easy meal. Anyone can make it."

"Even Yukiko and Chie?" Yosuke laughed.

Souji averted his eyes and avoided answering. "Honestly," he said instead, "with oden, I usually like to make it the day before so that it can simmer in the broth longer, but Nanako-chan asked for it since it's so cold out today."

"Mm-hmm! It's great, big bro! Thanks!" Seeing Nanako-chan's big brown eyes so full of delight was a reward on its own, Yosuke decided. There was no way Souji could have refused her.

When they'd finished the meal, Yosuke offered to do the dishes. "It's the least I can do. I feel like a mooch."

"It's fine," Souji said cheerfully. "You aren't a mooch. I'll do them. I know where everything goes. What you can do" – Souji leaned forward over the table, his eyes sparkling – "is watch the quiz show with Nanako-chan."

* * *

It'd been a long time since Yosuke enjoyed a kotatsu. His family had one in the living room, but really, who wanted to hang out with his parents...? He preferred being in his room, even if it was cold.

He couldn't help but release a contented sigh when he arranged the kotatsu's blanket over his crossed legs. "It's so warm," he remarked, and Nanako-chan smiled and nodded at him in agreement before turning her attention to the TV.

Nanako-chan was better at the quiz show than he'd expected, especially considering it was a random smattering of world-wide topics and issues. Whenever she got a question right, she cheered so adorably, and when she didn't know an answer, Yosuke either tried to guess with her, or made jokes about the answer. "That was an unfair one—you weren't even born then!" he told her once after a particularly hard one.

Souji soon joined them. He took the seat across from Nanako-chan and to Yosuke's right. Yosuke shuffled his legs a bit under the kotatsu; Souji was just a bit taller and needed more leg room than he did. Yosuke kept his hands in plain sight above the kotatsu, just in case Souji got it in his mind to play with them like at Junes the previous day. He didn't need a repeat of that just now!

With Souji on the team, they started getting a lot more questions right. Yosuke wondered where he kept it all—the damn genius—but he was surprised to find that there were some topics Souji was utterly clueless about: sports, popular music, and contemporary politics. Yosuke was certainly learning a lot today... and very little of it was content from the quiz show.

Yosuke enjoyed the friendly atmosphere for as long as he could, but it was starting to get late, so during the next commercial break, he sighed and said, "I wish I could stay, but I'd better get home before my parents wonder where I am."

"Can't you stay?" Souji asked quietly.

Yosuke opened and closed his mouth. The look Souji was giving him was vaguely hopeful. "Erm..." he managed.

"It's snowing, Yosuke-nii," said Nanako-chan. "It's really cold out..." The three of them looked out the living room's sliding glass doors, and sure enough, snowflakes were pouring down from the sky.

"She wants you to stay," Souji said, as if Nanako-chan was the final authority. "We have a spare futon in the upstairs closet. I'll bring it out for you."

"Ah, I'm fine with the couch," Yosuke muttered. "It's not that big a deal."

"You can stay in my room. It'll be a sleepover."

Souji could have been a statue for all Yosuke could read in his face. Yosuke tried to stem the panic rising within him. Stay the night in his room...? Was this an invitation to something... more? He tugged at his jacket's collar, but his headphones weren't there, and he became painfully aware of the fact that Nanako-chan was watching him curiously. "Uh, sure," he finally decided. "I haven't been to a sleepover since I lived in the city. I remember we stayed up late watching horror movies and eating ice cream. Fun times. Haha."

The commercial ended, and Nanako-chan was absorbed in watching the TV once again.

Yosuke leaned closer to Souji and muttered his name in a reproachful tone of voice. He meant to chastise his partner for pushing him into staying over like this, and maybe discern his intentions.

Instead of answering, Souji took his hand. Yosuke jerked it away. "Not in front of Nanako-chan!" he hissed.

Souji glanced pointedly at the girl, who was so busy shouting answers and laughing gleefully at the TV that she was completely oblivious to their conversation.

"Yeah, well, kids pick upon these things fast, you'd be surprised." Yosuke was not completely mollified.

"I work at a day-care," Souji replied, well-aware of the fact.

"I'm just saying," Yosuke said, "I don't want to be outed by Nanako-chan, of all people. Eh, anyway, don't you have to get Dojima-san's permission to let me stay?"

Souji shrugged. "He's not here. He can't stop you from staying."

"Well, you'd better tell him anyway. Imagine Nanako-chan telling him in the morning that I'd stayed the night, and then him wondering why you didn't tell him. It doesn't take Naoto to figure _that one_ out."

"You imagine too many things," Souji complained.

 _Well, yeah!_ he wanted to say. Right now he was also trying hard not to imagine what staying the night in Souji's room would entail.

Souji relented. "I'll call him. Watch some TV."

While he watched Nanako-chan continue to answer questions, he wondered if Teddie was in his room right now, also watching the quiz show. Damn, thinking of Teddie reminded him that he'd forgotten to call his parents. He'd been so worried about Dojima-san... Looking out the sliding glass doors again, it was obvious that the snow wasn't letting up at all, and it was dark out, so he had a passable excuse for staying over. Teddie was going to be pretty annoying tomorrow, though, knowing he'd stayed the night with his beloved Sensei.

When Souji returned, he excused himself to call his house and let his parents know the situation. His mother seemed surprised, but when he explained the unexpected heavy snow, she seemed okay with it. Her main concern was that he didn't have a change of clothes on hand, and he just assured her that he'd be fine. He could borrow something of Souji's, probably.

* * *

Yosuke hovered outside the room as Souji put Nanako-chan to bed. He didn't want to intrude... and it was awkward to hear them say goodnight to each other.

"Goodnight, Nanako-chan."

"Goodnight! I love you, big bro!"

"I love you, too."

...Very awkward.

Souji smiled at him after closing Nanako-chan's door. "My room?"

"Uh, y-yeah..."

"You know where it is," Souji said. "I'll be right there."

Yosuke went on ahead with some trepidation. He found the spare futon already laid out—Souji must have done that after he'd called Dojima-san. To his relief, he hadn't put it near his own futon. He'd placed it right under the TV.

He'd been in Souji's room before, and though it'd been a while ago, it didn't seem like much had changed. Souji had acquired a few new books, but none of them looked remotely interesting to him. Why Souji felt compelled to read every book given to him, even shoujo manga, Yosuke couldn't begin to guess. The table bore a neat stack of origami paper and some envelopes, but it seemed like the envelopes hadn't been touched in a while. Yosuke was glad—folding envelopes had always seemed like a waste of Souji's precious time.

He discovered something new: a couple of model robots on the shelf next to the TV. Souji had some strange hobbies, and it was nice to see one that was relatively normal.

"I expected to catch you looking under my futon."

Yosuke jumped and nearly dropped the Heavy Armor Agni he'd been inspecting. "Shit, man, don't sneak up on me like that. I almost broke it."

"Nothing a little glue couldn't fix," Souji said—but he took the robot from his hands and put it firmly back on the shelf.

Looking for something to talk about, Yosuke turned towards the TV and scanned Souji's DVD collection. "Dude, you ever watch any of these?"

"Don't really have time for it..."

"Huh, no horror movies. And I guess it's a bit cold for ice cream..." Yosuke chuckled nervously.

"Yeah..." Souji had picked up one of the robots and was bending its poseable arms into a different position.

There was an uncomfortable silence that Yosuke yearned to fill. "Uhh... so what are we gonna do?" he finally asked, facing the inevitable.

"How good are you with your hands?" Souji's eyes were fixed on the model robot.

Yosuke twitched. "A-ah, err..."

"Because," Souji continued, "you could help me with my next model." He picked up a box from the lower shelf and showed it to him. The box had a picture of a motorbike on it. "I started it already, but it's maybe only halfway done."

"Uh, sure, I guess."

They spent the evening working on the model. Yosuke almost glued his fingers together at one point, but he found that it was fun to work with his partner on a project like this: trying to make sense of the directions, searching for the tiny labels on the tiny parts that the plan asked for, holding a part still so that Souji could glue it...

And by the end of the night, they'd finished it! Yosuke rolled the model motorbike along the tabletop. It had a silver base with green trimming; Chie would probably like it. "Huh, pretty cool."

"Yeah." Souji's eyes were on the bike while Yosuke rolled it back and forth. Yosuke's eyes were on his friend's satisfied-looking face. Souji seemed so happy to have completed the project; he was almost glowing like a little kid after being given some candy. It was delightful to see him so unguarded; Yosuke wished he could take a picture without distracting him.

Then the spell was broken, and Souji began to sweep the plastic scraps leftover from the project into a pile and ultimately into a trash can. He took the motorbike model from Yosuke and placed it proudly on the display shelf. Yosuke stood next to him while he admired their handiwork. "There are four more robots in the series. Maybe I'll have time to get them all done."

Yosuke didn't answer. Souji was looking at the models, but he... he was still looking at Souji.

Before he could chicken out, he took Souji's hand, leaned in and kissed the corner of Souji's mouth. It was just a light peck, but it was enough to astonish his partner. "Yosuke?"

Yosuke knew his face was beet red, but he clutched Souji's arm the same way he'd seen Rise do before.

"Yosuke?" Souji repeated. "I thought you were scared... I didn't want to pressure you into anything."

"I _am_ scared!" Yosuke admitted. "But... I'm curious too, and I trust you, and... I want to touch you too, dammit."

Souji laughed. "Go right ahead."

It was embarrassing, but... Yosuke took his word for it, so he pressed his fingers into Souji's side, into his back, into his neck, into his hair and ears, and all Souji did was chuckle nonstop, which did nothing to make it any less embarrassing.

"Dude, it's not that funny..." Yosuke stepped away from him when he'd had enough of the teasing laughter.

"I'm sorry," Souji said, not sounding sorry at all. "Is it my turn now?"

Yosuke backed away automatically. "Y-your turn? Uh, I mean..."

Shit. He cursed himself for responding like that. It was like he'd just insulted Souji, like he didn't trust him or something, and he did, he really did... "I'm sorry," he tried. "It's just... You can touch me, it's only fair. I mean..."

Souji shook his head. To Yosuke's surprise, he was still smiling, apparently unhurt by Yosuke's hesitation. "It's all right. We have school tomorrow, anyway. We'd better get ready to go to sleep."

His friend was way too understanding... but Yosuke was relieved anyway. "Oh, yeah. I don't have anything to wear..." He scratched his head sheepishly.

Souji opened the top drawer of his dresser and scrounged around in it until he pulled out a gray set of pajamas. "Here. Uncle got me this so I'd have an extra set, but I've never worn them."

"Oh. Thanks," Yosuke said, accepting them. The color was so bland that he easily believed Dojima-san had picked them out thinking they'd be perfect for Souji.

Souji opened his mouth to say something, and then apparently thought better of it. But Yosuke had noticed, and was curious now. "What is it?" he asked.

Now Souji was looking away from him, cheeks faintly pink. "Nothing. The bathroom's down the hall—you know where it is."

"I wanna know what you were gonna say," Yosuke said stubbornly.

"It was just, ah..." Now Souji's cheeks were unmistakably pink. Finally, Yosuke thought, now Souji knew what it was like! He had almost believed his friend was immune to embarrassment. "It was... I was just thinking... Maybe you would have liked it better if I _had_ worn those pajamas before."

Yosuke threw the pajamas at him. "You are just... ugh, what is _wrong_ with you?" But he couldn't stop laughing anyway.

Souji tossed the pajamas back to him and then picked up his own set from atop his futon. "Are you going to get changed or not? Because I'm going to change here. Unless you want to stay and watch. I don't mind..."

Instead of answering, Yosuke walked stiffly out of the room, like one of the model robots. He could hear Souji giggling behind him...

* * *

Souji was sitting on his futon in the corner of the room when he got back, wearing his own pajamas: a set of black bottoms with some generic pattern and a plain white top. He was all seriousness now. In fact, he looked quite tired. "The light switch is by the door. Would you mind?" he asked.

"Sure, partner," Yosuke said. He turned down the light. Fortunately there was enough light from the window for him to get to the spare futon.

"Thanks..."

After getting comfortable in his futon, Yosuke wondered if Souji was interested in talking before going to sleep, but since the boy didn't say anything, he assumed not. Yosuke sighed and fluffed up the spare pillow and stared up at the TV above him.

He'd been worried sick earlier about how the day was going to go, but it hadn't been bad at all. In fact, he'd had a great time. Souji was... weird, but sweet. Sweet, huh... That sounded a bit... girly, but, at the moment, it didn't bother him at all.

He wondered—and not for the first time—why, of all the people in Inaba, Souji had chosen him. Their shared experiences? They had been through a hell of a lot together.

He'd always thought Souji was special... maybe he could dare to hope that Souji thought there was something special about him, too? He flexed his toes at the thought. He shouldn't be thinking stuff like this in Souji's room, with Souji right there, even if he was asleep.

Souji was asleep. Yosuke could hear his steady breathing. He was expecting him to be a snorer— he had to have some flaw, right?—but so far it seemed like he wasn't. Yosuke hoped he himself didn't snore and end up waking him. He'd had to throw pillows at Teddie the few times he'd let the bear share his room instead of using the closet. It was pretty annoying.

...These pajamas weren't too bad. They smelled a bit musty from being in the drawer for a long time. They didn't smell like Souji. Ha. Maybe Souji was right. Maybe he would have liked it more if these pajamas had been worn by him.

He felt like a creep just thinking about it.

He yawned. He should get to sleep, he really should... but it was just so peaceful here. He found himself wishing he could just lie here in Souji's room for... well, maybe not _forever,_ but a very long time...


	5. Tentarafoo

[Summary: Yosuke is still trying to figure it all out.]

* * *

 **Part One**

 _BURRRRN MY DREAAAAAAD_

Yosuke scrambled to turn off his mp3 player—God, why was it so loud? What the hell, where were his headphones, they weren't around his neck, why what

 _BURRRRN MY DREAAAAAAD_

What the hell, he didn't even know this song, how did it get on his mp3 player...

...but even in his sleep-ridden state, he had to admit it was a pretty sweet tune.

There was a loud thunk from the other side of the room and then blessed silence. Yosuke groaned and mashed his face back into the pillow.

He heard a quiet sigh and the rustle of blankets and then a tall shape was standing over him. He blinked rapidly to clear the sleep from his eyes.

Souji...?

That's right! He was staying over at Souji's for the night. Nanako-chan still had his headphones, and that music must've been his partner's alarm, and...

...Good God, Souji woke up early. The sun was barely creeping its way into the room through the window, and the sky outside was a hazy dawn orange-blue. "Ugh, what time is it?" Yosuke mumbled, though he didn't really want to know.

"You can probably sleep for another 30," Souji said, stifling a yawn himself. "I've things to do."

Souji left the room. Yosuke rolled over in the spare futon he had borrowed for the night.

What time had they gone to sleep last night? He hadn't been paying attention. It was almost criminal, how early Souji had set the alarm. How did the guy manage? He was like a freaking robot. Yosuke had seen his day planner once and it was more complicated than their trigonometry homework.

Souji was overworked, and Yosuke knew it. He should've done something about it a long time ago. It wasn't healthy. How many part-time jobs did he have, again? Working at Junes alone was enough for Yosuke. No wonder his friend had gotten sick right after New Years. It was probably exhaustion kicking in.

Well, at least the murder case was over and done with, so they could all relax.

Speaking of Souji, the guy was back in the room now, opening some dresser drawers. Hey, when did he get dressed into his school uniform? Yosuke hadn't seen him change. And what was that sheen in his hair? His hair was wet—he'd taken a shower!?

...And Yosuke wasn't even out of the futon yet.

Yosuke grimaced and pulled himself into a sitting position on the futon. "Damn, man," he muttered. Well, he'd never been a morning person.

"Here, you can wear these." Souji tossed him a bundle of clothes that he caught and held in his lap—a spare school uniform, including a jacket. "I left a bag by the door for your old clothes. Or you can leave them here and I'll get them washed for next time."

"Next time...?" Yosuke rubbed his eyes, but that only made his vision blurrier, and his mind still felt sleepy. "You want me to stay over again?"

Souji shrugged. "There's still a month and a half left. There might be a chance for it."

A month and a half left before what? ...Oh. Oh, right...

"...Yeah," Yosuke said quietly. "Maybe the next time it snows... I'll just happen to be studying with you here, heh."

"Or maybe we'll study at the Hanamura house," Souji suggested. "And I can stay over there..."

"Oh god no." Yosuke waved his hand rapidly in emphasis. "Did you forget Teddie is staying with me? Yeah, no."

"It could be fun. Teddie's a good guy."

"Dude, you are way too nice. Did you forget he almost roasted you alive with the kotatsu when you were sick?"

"It gave me a nice tan."

Yosuke stared at him, speechless.

"He was just trying to help." Souji rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Anyway, if you want to borrow a pair of underwear and socks, they're in the top drawer. I'll see you downstairs."

"Dude I am not going to wear your underwear..." Yosuke began, but he was complaining to air: Souji had already left the room.

Yosuke stretched his arms wide and yawned hugely before getting up and heading to the bathroom, where he realized that yeah, he could use some fresh underwear. He scowled at the thought of wearing Souji's underwear—come on, that was just... no... He wouldn't go there...

If the situation was reversed and Souji had asked to borrow _his_ underwear, he'd flat-out refuse. It was just... egh... Not when they were in a relationship. It felt so wrong. Dirty. As dirty as Souji had called their secret relationship, maybe? What was wrong with that guy, really...

But Souji _had_ offered, after all, and it'd be pretty uncomfortable to spend another day in these...

Damn, he had to work after school, too, so he wouldn't have time to go home and change.

Fine. He opened the top drawer and found a pair of boxer shorts, dark gray with a black-and-gray vertical striped pattern. He held it out at arm's length, feeling like such a creeper while he tentatively sniffed it. Yep, Junes-brand detergent. If he remembered right, Nanako-chan did the laundry, so that explained that.

Yosuke changed quickly, not that he expected Souji to return suddenly—he'd said he'd wait downstairs—but out of habit. He often threw on his clothes without any care in the morning because he'd overslept. Souji's clothes fit him well; they were about the same size and build, anyway. He started buttoning up the jacket and then stopped, wondering if he should copy Souji's style and leave it unbuttoned since he was wearing his clothes and all. Nah. Although Souji might find it amusing, he'd rather not to attract unwanted attention. Chie would totally tease him about it.

He stretched again in the new clothes and realized he was alone and with free reign in Souji's room, something that wasn't likely to happen again anytime soon. But... really, it was too early in the morning to go snooping, and he didn't know how long his partner would wait for him. The mystery of Souji's goods would have to remain unsolved for now.

Might as well get going. He went downstairs and found his friend warming something on the kitchen stove. "Good morning," Souji greeted. "Have a seat."

"Dude, you're making breakfast for me too?" Yosuke rubbed his face like he couldn't believe it. He sat down at the table so he could watch Souji cook, just like he had done the night before.

"Hanamura?" said a gruff voice behind him. "Oh, right... You stayed over."

"D-Dojima-san!" Yosuke yelped. He knocked over his chair in his surprise.

"This is my house," the detective reminded him, ignoring his clumsiness. Dojima was already dressed for work, wearing a gray dress shirt, black pants, and the signature red tie. He draped his black jacket over one of the other dining room chairs. "You shouldn't be surprised to see me."

"Err..." said Yosuke. "Thanks for letting me stay."

Dojima grunted. "It was damn cold last night." He then entered the kitchen, stepped around Souji, and pulled forward some mugs from the back of the counter. "Coffee?"

Yosuke declined. He knew from experience that caffeine was not good for him, especially on a school day.

"Yes, please, uncle," said Souji.

Dojima started the coffee maker and then sat at the table with Yosuke, who'd recovered enough to right his chair. "I usually don't see Souji in the morning," Dojima said conversationally. "He's up earlier than normal today. I suppose that's your fault. Well, I'm not gonna complain about a good old-fashioned breakfast. Been too long since I had one." He leaned back comfortably in the chair.

Souji looked stricken from across the counter. "I can cook breakfast for you more often, uncle."

"You do enough around here already," Dojima said. "I've survived on toast this long. I'll manage."

Souji didn't seem appeased, but then Nanako-chan came out from her room. "Good morning! Dad... and Yosuke-nii... and big bro!" She smiled at them grandly.

If Dojima noticed the familial honorific tacked onto Yosuke's name, he didn't comment. Instead, he stood up and returned to the kitchen to check the coffee's progress.

Yosuke asked Nanako-chan for his headphones, and she happily brought them out from her room. He slipped them over his neck, and the relief was immediate. He didn't plan on listening to anything now, not with Nanako-chan and Dojima-san present, but knowing that he could made him feel that much more relaxed.

Come to think of it, he hadn't listened to anything since... Wow, probably before school yesterday. He couldn't remember a time when he'd gone that long without needing the peace his music offered.

"Breakfast's ready!" Souji announced. He balanced several bowls on his arm and brought them to the table. He'd cooked hot miso soup and rice.

Yosuke stirred his bowl with chopsticks and peered into it. "Why's mine look different?" The soup seemed to have a different color to it than everyone else's.

"I left the bonito out of yours," Souji explained. "I know you don't like fish."

Yosuke directed his partner a smoldering look. He just couldn't help it. "Mannnn..." he breathed. "You're something else."

Souji coughed to hide his embarrassment and looked away, then nudged Yosuke meaningfully with his foot under the table. Dojima-san was busy eating and hadn't noticed the exchange, but Nanako-chan was looking at Yosuke as if he was some puzzle to solve from the quiz show. Yosuke hastily turned back to the soup and started eating.

"Nanako," Dojima said after they'd finished breakfast. "Why don't I take you to school today?"

The girl's eyes widened. "You mean... in the car?"

Dojima nodded. "Yeah. Come on, get your things." Nanako-chan squealed and headed to her room to collect her backpack. Dojima turned to Souji and Yosuke. "You two will have to manage on your own."

Souji nodded.

When Nanako-chan returned, backpack in tow, Souji gave her a hug and told her to have a fun day at school.

She turned to Yosuke and opened her arms for a hug from him too. He awkwardly gave her one, entirely aware of Dojima's stern gaze on him. Dojima maybe wasn't disapproving of him, but it was hard to tell.

Souji watched father and daughter leave the house together with an odd look on his face.

"What's up?" Yosuke asked him.

The boy shook his head. "I'm just happy... It's unusual for my uncle to take Nanako-chan to school like that. He'll be late for work."

"Well, he came home late last night. Maybe that'll make up for it?" Yosuke suggested.

Souji just Mmm'd at him and cleaned up the dishes.

When Souji was done, Yosuke stood up from the table and rubbed the back of his head. "Hey, uh, partner?"

Souji blinked at him. "Yes?"

"Remember last night? Uh, I mean..."

Souji nodded. "Thanks for helping with the model. I'd be working on it for the next three nights if I did it on my own."

"That's not what I... Uhh..." The faintly curious, faintly puzzled look Souji had on finally allowed Yosuke to blurt it out. "You can touch me."

"What, now?" Souji asked, surprise clear on his face.

"Y-yeah." Yosuke stood tensely, waiting for Souji to make the next move.

Souji shook his head. "Not now. We're in our school uniforms, and we still have to go to school today."

"Oh," Yosuke said, strangely disappointed. He'd been too afraid last night, but now he was willing to face it, and...

"But maybe," Souji whispered. He moved around the table until he was behind Yosuke, and then pressed up against his back, chin on his shoulder, and wrapped a hand around his waist, fingers splayed on his stomach. "Maybe just a little bit?" Souji's breath warmed Yosuke's neck. And after his shower, Souji smelled great, even if it was probably Junes-brand soap.

"P-partner," Yosuke stammered. How did Souji know so intimately what to do to make him fall to pieces?

Souji laughed and pulled away. "We need to get to school."

* * *

Yosuke spent most of the walk to school complaining about the snow and the cold until he realized his words were falling on deaf ears. His partner was mostly lost in thought as they trudged through a thick drift on the sidewalk. He'd thought Souji could at least agree with him that the cold sucked, but instead he'd been rather noncommittal about it the whole time.

"Don't tell me you like the cold," Yosuke complained. "It's way colder out here than in the city. Like, in the city, all the buildings block the wind, and here we get the wind over the river and that makes it extra freezing."

"It's not that I like the cold," Souji finally spoke up, "but..."

"You're gonna say 'it's better than summer heat,' aren't you? I wouldn't compare the two extremes—they're both awful!" Yosuke kicked at a pile of snow and was rewarded with very wet shoes. "Urgh!"

"But if it hadn't snowed," Souji continued, "you wouldn't have stayed over, so..."

Yosuke covered his face with his hand. "C-come on, partner! We're getting too close to school to say things like that."

"The snow is good for some things..."

"Y-yeah, that's right!" Yosuke declared, desperate to redirect the topic before anyone overheard Souji and wanted to investigate. "We're gonna have a ski trip! And, and," – he looked at Souji – "We can help Nanako-chan make another snowman!"

He was rewarded with a smile from Souji that could almost melt snow on its own. "'We,' huh?"

"Yeah, why not?" said Yosuke. "I haven't made a snowman since I was a kid. You made a Teddie snowman last time, right? We should make a snow bunny, since Nanako-chan likes bunnies."

"Yeah, she does." Souji's face had a dreamy look.

Yosuke grinned, mostly to himself. His partner was so easy to please.

* * *

"Hey, uh, partner," Yosuke said between classes, "got an extra notebook? My Geology notebook is at home." Since he'd stayed at Souji's, he only had his notebooks for yesterday's classes, which didn't include today's science class.

Souji nodded and handed him a notebook out of his book bag.

"Thanks, partner," Yosuke said with feeling. "You're a lifesaver."

Souji nibbled the end of his pen to mask how happy he was to hear that. Yosuke, flipping through the notebook, didn't notice.

The notebook had been used before; the notes inside seemed to be for an art class, but not many pages were filled up. Souji wasn't in an art class—his elective was music, probably to go with his band practice. Yosuke forgot what instrument he played. Something brass, right? Pretty cool, but not as cool as, say, a guitar.

This was probably an older, unimportant notebook that Souji intended to cannibalize when one of his other notebooks filled up. Yosuke could tell it hadn't been used in a while because Souji hadn't drawn any hearts in it... yet. He was still doing that, much to Yosuke's acute embarrassment. The girls had hassled Souji before about it, and would probably do so again. Well, since this particular notebook was clean, at least Yosuke wouldn't have the girls bothering _him_ about it.

Class started, and, predictably, it wasn't long before Yosuke was bored. He shouldn't have bothered with borrowing the notebook, really... he wasn't going to take many notes. Continental drift of the Philippines tectonic plate was approximately 6 cm a year while the Pacific plate was 8 cm... who cared? Souji encouraged him to apply himself just a little more in class, but it was just so hard to stay focused when the subject hardly seemed relevant.

Yosuke tapped his pen against the desk, thinking. There was no helping it.

He began to draw on a free page in the notebook. Just a rough, sketchy outline of what he intended at first, and drawn very lightly—he didn't want to get caught in the act. He tried to inconspicuously glance at the boy who sat next to him to make sure he wasn't watching. Nah, he was a studious enough kid, totally absorbed in the lecture—or maybe his own thoughts, he looked a little spacey.

"Write this down," the teacher said. "It'll be on the exam for sure!"

Yosuke scowled and scribbled the term—"supercontinent"—and its definition for later. What, were they trying to make Geology class interesting by putting 'super' in front of its terminology? If so, it wasn't working.

And then he went right back to his art piece. By the end of class, he had it finished, and, after tearing out his class notes, he carefully folded back the page with the drawing on it so that Souji would notice it later, then handed the notebook back to him. "Thanks, partner."

Souji looked at the proffered notebook, but didn't accept it. "Oh. You can keep it."

Yosuke waved the pages he'd torn out. "I already got my notes... Ah, I gotta get to work." He pushed the notebook into Souji's hands. "I'll talk to you later!"

Souji blinked down at the notebook, and Yosuke didn't wait for him to open it.

* * *

Working sucked. Yosuke didn't manage to get home until well after dark, and then he had to deal with an overly excited Teddie telling him all about whatever he'd been watching on television before he could finally pull off his clothes—Souji's clothes—and get a shower. And then when he went to get a snack he ran into his mom, who wanted to tell him all about her day and then complain about something the neighbor had done—he wasn't really listening at this point. And then when he brought the snack to his room, he'd made the mistake of setting it on his desk while he got a drink, and came back to find only an empty wrapper because Teddie'd taken it and... And then his dad came home and wanted to talk about Junes's sales numbers for the pharmaceutical department, which somehow led into him making Yosuke work again tomorrow even though it was supposed to be his day off...

He wished he was staying at Souji's again.

After he'd finally bundled Teddie off to bed in closet, he thought of calling Souji and complaining at least about his work schedule, but it was way too late. During the murder case, he never really cared when he called, but now... He didn't want to wake Souji up. Not now, not when he knew how early the guy got up, and how tired he had been last night...

* * *

Yosuke found Souji at the shoe lockers a couple of days later. "Hey, uh, partner, think we could hang out after school today?" he asked.

"Hmm..." For a moment, Yosuke worried that Souji would take his planner out and check if he had room for him, but then Souji nodded. "Of course."

Yosuke grinned at him and almost said, 'It's a date,' before he caught himself. "Let's meet on the roof, yeah?"

Souji nodded and smiled back, and Yosuke scuttled off to class before it got too awkward or he started blushing or something.

* * *

After school, Yosuke waited outside the classroom for Souji. Chie had started hassling his partner about the hearts again, and Yosuke really didn't want to be around for that. He might slip up and give it all away, so he was going to let his partner handle it.

A few minutes later, he watched Chie and Yukiko leave down the hall together—but then he saw Rise coming up from the first floor, and he groaned internally. But it was too late, she'd seen him. "Yosuke-senpai~ Is Senpai in? We're supposed to go out today."

"Oh... is that so..." Yosuke tried to keep his voice level. Wait, Souji had a date with _Rise_ today...?

"Yeah!" Rise confirmed animatedly. "We're going to have so much fun. We're going shopping at Okina, and then we'll see a movie, and _maybe_ we'll have dinner at a really nice restaurant over there... Senpai is such a gentleman, you know." She smiled mischievously as she opened the door to classroom 2-2. "See you around!"

Yosuke's mind shut down. He'd never imagined Rise would be competition. But knowing her, it'd be hard for Souji to renege on his promise to spend the afternoon with her, especially since it'd probably been planned several days ahead. Who could refuse _Risette?_

...Would Souji text him to tell him their date was off?

Not wanting to think about it, he went to the roof on his own and put his headphones on and played some music. Back in December, he'd mostly listened to heavy metal, in keeping with his mood— they'd been chasing after the murderer then, so he'd needed music to get his blood pumping. Now, he listened to lighter tunes, but it was difficult to decide what he wanted to listen to today. He wasn't exactly feeling bright and cheerful—just anxious—and he didn't have any music that really fit with that. He put the playlist on shuffle mode and skipped the first three songs that played, settling on the fourth.

He scooted to the chain-link fence and rested his back against it, eyes closed. Damn, it was cold today, even with the sun peeking through the scattered clouds. The roof hadn't been a good idea. It was just... where they always went.

A thought came to him. What if Souji came up here with Rise? Oh, that would be awful... Well, she said they were going to Okina, so probably not.

Haha, speaking of the devil, the song that played next was a Risette piece. The song was about a girl who liked a guy but didn't want to appear flirty so she just watched him go out with other girls. Art didn't imitate life, in this case.

...He skipped that song, too.

He had to work again tomorrow, which was why he'd wanted to hang out today. They still had plenty of time, but the calendar was ticking down days and he knew it'd be over before he knew it. Their relationship was still so fresh and new. They were keeping it from the others while he, Yosuke, figured it out, which was hard when he had to share Souji with everyone else. At this rate, his partner would be gone before he figured it out, and then it'd... just be a damned tragedy, that's what it would be.

Bleh, another annoying song. He'd put a lot of stuff on the player that he only marginally liked so that he wouldn't get tired of his favorites, and this was one. Maybe he should skip it too. Hmm, well, it just got to the chorus, and he liked that part, at least...

He stretched back and ran his fingers against the chain-links, then regretted it. The metal was cold. He rubbed his fingers together to warm them, then sighed and closed his eyes again.

"Yosuke?"

Startled, he scraped the back of his head against the fence. "Dammit, partner!" he swore. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

Souji was looking at him, amusement plain on his face. "Are you all right?"

Yosuke rubbed where he hit his head. "Yeah..." He pulled off his headphones and paused the music. He dearly wanted to ask about Rise, but... he'd only been on the roof maybe ten minutes, so Souji had definitely given her the boot. How had he managed that? Were things going to be okay between Souji and Rise? Yosuke felt a guilty thrill that he was more important to him than she was.

Souji stepped closer, but he looked unsure of himself. "Can I still touch you?"

Yosuke reached out and took his hand and pulled him down next to him. " _Yes._ " He couldn't have Souji skipping out on Rise and then keep him away! But then he realized where they were. "Uh, actually, let's move away from the fence, just in case..." It wasn't likely that they'd be seen in this weather, but Inaba was known for its overly curious inhabitants. Someone might spot them and then wonder who exactly was sitting so close together and...

They relocated to the center of the roof, and Souji held onto his arm and ran his hand along his jacket's sleeve. "You're cold," Souji said. "Maybe we should go somewhere else."

"Yeah, but... I want the privacy. Anywhere else outside would be just as cold."

"We could go to my place again," Souji suggested.

Yosuke shook his head. "I'd rather not cross your uncle's path so soon."

Souji rested his head against Yosuke's shoulder. "All right."

Yosuke waited for Souji to talk, but his partner seemed content just to sit there, holding his arm. Yosuke scratched his head with his free hand. "Oh, by the way, you won't be getting your clothes back anytime soon, partner."

Souji swiveled his head to look at him, and Yosuke assumed he was trying to raise an eyebrow, but it was hidden by his bangs. Yosuke took out his phone, pressed a few keys, then showed him the screen.

It was a picture of human Teddie wearing a Yasogami school uniform that appeared to be at least a couple of sizes too big for him. The blond-haired boy didn't seem to mind that, though—he seemed ecstatic in it. He was standing in a pose that looked a lot like Souji's battle stance, in fact.

"Yeah," said Yosuke. "Made the mistake of telling him it was your uniform. 'Teddie-sensei is roaring to go!' or something... Sorry."

"Does he have my underwear, too? I noticed I was missing a set."

"I don't know!" Yosuke replied too quickly. _Smooth, Yosuke, smooth._ Not that he was planning to keep Souji's boxers or anything, he wasn't a creep.

Souji chuckled, but didn't comment.

A silence elapsed, but it wasn't exactly uncomfortable. He was alone with Souji, a rare enough feat in itself these days.

He'd been thinking a lot about Souji lately, for obvious reasons, and... he'd never really had a chance to ask any of the important questions. They'd been best friends for almost a year, and the other boy was still kind of a mystery. Yosuke knew he was easy to please—just talk about his cousin or give him a Topsicle and he was happy—but there was so much he didn't know, even little things.

Sure, he could enjoy the silence, but he was Yosuke, and silence was nice to visit but didn't come naturally to him. So maybe this could be an opportunity to give voice to at least some of these questions.

"What makes you happy, partner?" Yosuke asked.

"You," was Souji's instant reply.

Yosuke rubbed his temple, trying to distract himself so that he wouldn't blush. "I mean, more in general..."

Souji frowned. "Nanako-chan?" he ventured.

"No, no." Yosuke shook his head and clarified. "I mean, _what_ makes you happy, not _who_."

Souji didn't think about it for very long. "Being your boyfriend makes me happy." He nodded like it was his final answer, no more consideration needed.

"Ugh," said Yosuke. "That sounds so queer... boyfriend..."

"But I am," Souji said plaintively.

"What, queer?"

" _Your boyfriend._ "

"I—I know..."

Souji remained quiet, and Yosuke was sure he'd soon say, "It's okay, I understand," or something equally frustrating that would make him feel guilty. But Souji said nothing, apparently still content with the silence. Yeah, Yosuke had killed the convo almost as bad as Naoto tended to.

So he had to break the silence. "Partner... You ever kissed a girl?" Whoa, where had _that_ come from, and why was he asking it?

Souji stirred, and the look on his face was somewhat strained. "Yeah..."

No, Yosuke knew exactly where his question had come from. Souji's interest in him was something he still hadn't come to terms with, even though they'd been hugging and touching and sometimes even kissing for the past few weeks. That sleepover had been the first time they'd actually made out... And Yosuke had decided he'd liked it, in the end, but it had taken probably too long for him to come to that decision.

It was driving him crazy, because he _did_ like it when Souji touched him and kissed him, but a part of him wanted to push him away, the same part that kept making him beat up on Kanji whenever he saw the chance. Even now, Souji leaning against him and holding his arm—no, holding his hand, Souji had found his hand again—if Yosuke was a good boyfriend he'd be leaning into him too and touching him back, not leaving his hand limp in Souji's like a dead fish. It was frustrating for him, and it was probably a hell of a lot more frustrating for Souji. Patient, sweet, adorable Souji...

Yosuke just didn't get it. He liked Souji, that much was true, but when he contemplated what it meant, he blanked out. He didn't want to get caught up on feelings, because that was... that was queer, but that's what he kept thinking about, trying to understand something that seemed like it was inherently impossible to understandable.

And, and, another part of him just couldn't believe that Souji chose him over the dozens of beautiful girls fawning over him. He couldn't understand it at all. And Yosuke was taking so long to figure it all out, what if Souji got tired of waiting and gave up on him or...

Yosuke had too many insecurities to handle, and so he had to know more about Souji, discover how he worked, or at least how he'd handled the same problems himself. He'd been confused, too, right? Probably not, it was Souji, he knew everything... but there was still a chance...

All of this led him to ask his next question without really thinking about it.

"You ever... do _more_ than kiss a girl?"

Souji swallowed. "Yeah..."

Yosuke's inhaled sharply, eyes wide. He hadn't expected him to answer, let alone answer positively. But... of course, this was _Souji._ He would've been able to reach third base with a girl easily, hell he'd probably gone all the way home... Hadn't Souji been hanging out with Ai Ebihara a lot a few months ago? Some of the guys at school said pretty awful things about her integrity.

A soft pat on his hand brought him back to reality. He looked at Souji's face to find his partner smiling mischievously at him. "Yeah. I hugged a girl, too," he said.

Yosuke batted his hand away. "Dammit, partner, you really had me going!"

"Yeah? And you?"

"Nah, never anything more than kissing," Yosuke said with a sigh. "With tongue, though!" he amended proudly.

Souji shook his head with a faint smile.

"Hey," said Yosuke in a more subdued voice. "I actually had a girlfriend back in the city. The move kind of broke us up. It was just a middle school romance, so, you know. Nothing serious. And, well, you can imagine I never had any luck here in Inaba." No one wanted to go out with 'Junes boy' even though at least he had a steady job. "Until, well, you, I guess."

"Until me," Souji echoed. He snuggled up affectionately next to Yosuke.

"You've had luck in Inaba," Yosuke commented. That thought about Ebihara was bothering him, now.

"Lucky with you," Souji said.

"You lay it on thick, don't you?" Yosuke said, probably turning crimson, the color aided by the cold.

Souji was silent for a pensive moment. "...Does it bother you?"

"No! It's just... really weird to hear. I just... Sometimes it's hard for me to believe you like me. I mean, all those girls like you..." he hinted. Maybe he could get Souji to admit he didn't like girls. It only made sense, no one could resist _every_ girl in Inaba... But Souji had given him that 'sliding scale' speech... where exactly on the scale was Souji, anyway?

"I'd better save up some money for White Day," Souji said with a sigh. "But believe it, Yosuke. I really," – Souji took Yosuke's hand and held it in front of his mouth – "like you." He kissed the back of Yosuke's hand.

 _Oh Gawwwwwd._ When he did stuff like that, it was so hard not to just _melt_ in front of him and—and Souji was smiling so sincerely at him, those gray eyes trained on his, wanting him to react. "Y-yeah, I get it." Yosuke tried to ignore it all—especially how warm Souji's lips were— because dammit he wanted an answer. "Bu-but aren't you interested in any of the girls?"

"Yosuke," Souji breathed. He tapped his fingers lightly on the back of Yosuke's hand. "I'm interested in you. You're my boyfriend." Souji narrowed his eyes at him, scrutinizing. "I'm not interested in any of the girls, if that's what you want to hear. I thought that would be obvious."

Yosuke shrugged. "Well, you know, the rumor mill." But he was happy to finally hear it, obvipous or not. Souji hung out with the different girls often. Anyone would be suspicious.

Well, that was enough for now; he was pretty satisfied with what he'd learned. Now he could just enjoy the date. He thought of what Rise had said. Man, Souji's original plan with Rise sounded more like a date than this... hanging out on a cold school roof. Yosuke needed to take Souji out somewhere nice. Yeah, he could be a good boyfriend.

Yeah, he could do this. Screw his fear, screw that part of him that wanted to run. _Souji liked him._ Not Kou or Naoki or that guy with glasses or any of his endless fangirls. Him.

Yosuke pulled his arm away from Souji, but not to get away—to wrap it around Souji's back and bring him closer. Souji seemed surprised—and that was wrong, he shouldn't be surprised. Yosuke kissed him on the cheek. "You're my boyfriend," Yosuke told him softly. There, it wasn't that hard to say, was it? And Souji _blushed,_ oh, that had been so worth it.

"Mmm," Souji agreed. He angled his head to brush his lips against Yosuke's mouth, but then he drew back. "Your lips are cold."

"Yours are, uh... warm," Yosuke finished lamely. He began to lick his lips to try and warm them, but Souji moved in to take care of it himself. As the kiss deepened, he felt Souji's hand at the back of his head, steadying him. His other hand gripped the front of his jacket.

The dopey look on Souji's face when he pulled away to breathe made Yosuke giddy. _His boyfriend._ Oh, and his breath was so warm, too...

Souji tried to rest his head against Yosuke's chest like last time, but Yosuke gently pulled his head up onto his shoulder instead; the lack of a backrest made it difficult to support too much weight. Last time, they had been on a couch, and last time, Yosuke hadn't known what to do with his hands. This time, he trailed his fingers down Souji's back with one hand, and tousled his silver-gray hair with the other.

Before he registered what he was doing, his hand on Souji's back had wandered past the boy's shirt and down to his pants. With heat radiating off of his face in embarrassment, Yosuke slipped his fingers into Souji's back pocket, only to find it was occupied by paper.

Though he knew it was going to kill the moment, he was curious, so he pulled it out and unfolded it.

It was the drawing he'd made the other day on Souji's old notes.

It was something silly... a sketch of a bunny with headphones—Yosuke—and a bunny with bowl-cut hair—Souji—and a smaller bunny with ribbons on its ears—Nanako-chan. A half-built snowman was drawn beside them. Yosuke had written the word "Sunday?" next to it, to ask if he could come over this weekend.

Souji lifted his head and peered at the sketch. "Oh. I was going to show that to Nanako- chan."

"Don't," Yosuke pleaded. "It's embarrassing."

"She'll think it's cute. It _is_ cute."

"Yeah, but... She might get the wrong idea."

"You think so...? All right... But yeah, Sunday's good." Souji rubbed his nose against Yosuke's cheek and whispered in his ear. "Please come over."

"Yeah... It's a date!" Yosuke announced with a maniacal grin.

A date. Maybe Yosuke could take him out to dinner or something, repay him for all the free meals... and be the boyfriend his partner deserved.

* * *

 **Part 2**

[Summary: Souji's view on some of the day's events.]

* * *

Souji nibbled the end of his pen. He was thinking of the boy behind him, of course. Yosuke wanted to hang out this afternoon. Souji was glad he'd asked—he'd been somewhat concerned that Yosuke hadn't called him since their little sleepover at his uncle's place, but Yosuke had been working the last two days, so probably he had just been too tired.

The sleepover... Yosuke hadn't returned the clothes he'd borrowed yet, but it didn't really matter; Souji'd had a spare set. Speaking of spare clothing, Souji hadn't yet washed the pajamas Yosuke had borrowed that night. In fact, Souji had worn them himself last night.

Souji blushed and bit harder on the pen until the plastic cracked under the pressure. That would be the third pen this week!

He really needed to stop daydreaming about his boyfriend in class. If he kept it up, he wouldn't be the one to make the top score on the final exam. But maybe Yukiko could be allowed to retake her former spot.

With a quiet sigh, he began to doodle in his notebook.

* * *

The dismissal bell rang, and Souji folded over his notebook only to find that he was closing it onto a rather feminine hand.

Chie's forefinger flicked the paper back and the notebook flipped open again. "Aha!" she said triumphantly. She grabbed the notebook before Souji could react and showed it to Yukiko. "Yep, he's still drawing them."

Yukiko peered at the page. "I have a red pen, if you'd like, Souji-kun."

Souji did his best to mask his guilt at getting caught. Again.

He should've stopped doing it after the first time the girls had noticed, but he couldn't help himself. He needed an outlet for his pent up emotions, and it had seemed harmless enough. It wasn't like he was cutting himself or something—he was just drawing hearts.

The first heart had just been a whim. Ms. Sofue had asked Yosuke a question in class, and Souji had provided him the answer, and as he sat back down, Yosuke had whispered, "Thanks, partner," and Souji had been so happy... So he'd drawn the heart in response.

And then he'd started thinking about why that had made him happy, and one heart hadn't seemed to be enough, so he'd drawn more and...

It might be an obsession now. He'd even expanded into adding stars and moons and little whirls in between the hearts.

But when his mind wandered in class and he started thinking of the boy sitting behind him, he had to distract himself somehow or else it would get _really_ embarrassing.

It would have been just fine, too, if the girls hadn't noticed.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Yosuke sneak out of the classroom's back door. He was effectively leaving the conversation before he had a chance to be drawn into it. Souji sorely wished he could follow.

"Chie," he chided without raising his voice. "If you wanted to see my artwork, you could have asked."

The short-haired girl had the decency to look embarrassed before scrambling to hand him back the notebook. "Sorry, Souji-kun! But you've got us all curious..."

Yukiko blinked. "What are we curious about?"

"Yukiko!" Chie scolded. "The hearts I just showed you?"

"...Yes?"

Well, at least one of the girls didn't see a problem with it.

Chie sighed. "Souji-kun..."

"I'm just happy," he told her. "Ayane liked the lunch I made today, and my uncle is—"

" _So it's Ayane-chan?_ " Chie interjected excitedly.

He opened his mouth to answer, but Yukiko held out a red pen to him. "You should add some color to them," she said.

He ignored the raven-haired girl for the moment, Chie's comment taking priority. "I make lunch for everyone, you know," he said. "In fact, tomorrow is Yukiko's day."

Chie's eyes widened, and she stared at her best friend, who was still happily holding out the red pen. Souji took the pen from her at that moment. "Thank you, Yukiko," he said with feeling. "Speaking of lunch, would you like curry or yakisoba tomorrow?"

"Curry," Yukiko replied promptly. "But... I could make it for you, instead."

"My treat," Souji countered quickly.

Chie laughed nervously, and tugged on her best friend's red jacket sleeve. "C-come on, now I'm hungry for a beef bowl... haha."

As the two girls left the classroom, Souji allowed himself a satisfied smile. He'd survived _that_ ordeal with no one the wiser.

Now for the next one. Any minute now...

He bent to put his notebook in his book bag, heard the classroom door reopen, glanced up to see Rise walk in, stepping confidently and exuberantly towards him, as always.

He'd been dreading this encounter all day, ever since Yosuke had asked him this morning to hang with him after school. A day with Rise had been on Souji's schedule for over a week. She'd been waiting patiently—well, impatiently—to hang out with her dear senpai the whole time.

And now he had to cancel on her.

He opened his planner before she reached him and made a show of peering over it. Rise's name was marked in black ink on today's date. No hearts were present there.

Hmm, when was he next free to spend a day with the idol? He might have to reschedule someone else to make room for her... He could skip band practice next week, maybe. It wasn't like he planned to play the trumpet professionally, and he'd just had lunch with Ayane, so he could put her off for a while. She needed some time to practice the trombone on her own, anyway.

"Senpaiiii," Rise squealed and tugged on his arm, red fingernails scratching lightly at his jacket sleeve. "Let's get going~"

Souji remained steadfastly in his seat. "I'm sorry, Rise. Something came up. I can't go to Okina with you today."

She was so devastated that she was speechless.

"Uhh, how about next Tuesday?" he suggested, hovering Yukiko's red ink pen over a square marked "band."

"Senpai... You promised!"

She was pouting. Souji frowned slightly. He hadn't actually _promised_ anything. Plans to meet up were just plans. Not promises.

He thought hard on how to make it up to her. "I'll cook for you next time," he offered. "Anything you want."

Rise eyed him, sizing him up. "Oh, really... Then how about sushi... _at your place?_ "

The emphasis she put at the end left no question as to what she intended: to be alone with him at his house.

"Rise," he said.

The way she was staring intently at his face made him positive that she was trying to will him into it with as much willpower as she could muster. Thankfully Himiko's telepathic powers didn't work outside the TV World.

It was really uncomfortable to be on the receiving end of a one-sided crush.

"Not at my place," he told her. He imagined it snowing that day, and having to invite her to stay overnight like Yosuke. No, just no.

"Senpai," she said. Her hand tightened its grip on his sleeve.

"But sushi, I can do that." He could even catch some fresh fish for it at the river. It'd be a nice test of both his fishing and cooking skills. "If the weather's nice, how about the picnic area at the flood plain?"

"All right," she said sullenly. "But..."

"Okay. So that's... Tuesday." He crossed out 'band' and wrote 'Rise – sushi' with the red ink pen.

"But Senpai," she said as he made to stand. "What's happening today? Why can't we go out?"

A thousand excuses flitted through his head, but he knew better than to lie. If she caught him in a lie, it'd be quite a blow to their friendship, and he still valued that. "Something just came up," he said with a practiced grimace. "It can't wait. Just... Tuesday, okay? I'll make it worth it."

"Of course you will, Senpai~" she said with a giggle.

He excused himself and left the classroom. He headed to the nearest bathroom, where he waited until he'd seen Rise pass by to leave the school. The last thing he needed was for her to follow him to the roof.

Heading to the roof, he popped a raspberry fruit chew in his mouth...

There was Yosuke, with eyes closed and his back and head resting against the roof's perimeter fence, looking... looking like the music he was listening to wasn't doing anything for him.

Souji called his name softly, but, with his headphones on, Yosuke didn't hear, so he called louder and Yosuke jumped, banging his head against the fence.

Souji couldn't keep the smile from his face. He'd felt bad for skipping out on Rise, but an afternoon with his boyfriend was going to be worth it.


	6. The Search for Souji's Girlfriend

[Summary: The girls really wanna know who Souji's 'girlfriend' is and bother Yosuke about it. Repeatedly.]

* * *

"Yosukeeeeee! Is Sensei in love?"

Yosuke spluttered and dropped the can of The Natural in his hand. "W-wha... Teddie? Oh, don't tell me the girls told you about that..."

Teddie's overlarge eyes were shining, as they tended to do when he was excited—which was pretty much always. "Sensei's heart, stolen by a pretty princess! He draws hearts all day, so it must be True Love! ...Does this mean he gets to score?"

"Ugh..." said Yosuke. He wiped up the soda spill from the top of his desk with an old T-shirt. That L-word was something he wouldn't touch with a ten-foot long Suspicious Pole.

"But who's the lucky lady?" Teddie continued innocently. "Do you know? Rise-chan thinks it's Emmy-chan."

"Yeah..." Yosuke said absently. He sat back in his desk chair and rubbed his face. This was going to be troublesome, but hell, anything involving Teddie was.

"You know!? It is Emmy-chan!?" Teddie sprang forward, getting in Yosuke's face.

Yosuke pushed him back to hold him away at arm's length, but Teddie's opposing force ended up pushing him and his desk chair back until he hit the wall. "What? No, it's not Marie-chan. We haven't even seen her since December."

Shit. Teddie wasn't stupid. He'd just admitted he knew.

"Tell meeeee," Teddie squealed.

He sighed and tried his best to explain. "Souji doesn't want anyone to know, all right? It's really hard for him as it is. That's why I can't tell. Even you." It wasn't exactly true. It was Yosuke who wanted to keep their relationship a secret so badly...

He could see that Teddie was thinking hard about this by the way the corners of his eyes crinkled. Yosuke wondered what stunning conclusion the bear would come to.

Teddie lifted his head. "Okay. Can I have a Topsicle now?"

Yosuke scowled. "It's winter! Why do you want one now?"

"Because the man doesn't sell them in winter even though I asked him SO nicely!" Teddie crossed his arms and pouted.

Yosuke promised to buy a box of Topsicles from Junes's frozen foods section the next time he worked. It was the least he could do, since it had changed the topic and all...

* * *

"So, uh," Chie said. "Do you really know who Souji-kun's crushing on?"

Yosuke groaned. "Not you too..."

They were eating lunch together at the school's rooftop. Souji was lunching elsewhere with Yukiko. Chie had some beef-flavored instant ramen and Yosuke had a cheap bento box he'd purchased from a vending machine.

"Well, Teddie said you knew!" Chie proclaimed. "And you can't fault a girl for being curious!"

"I can and will. When the hell did Teddie tell you? We only talked about it last night."

"He has a phone," Chie reminded him.

"I should never have gotten him one," Yosuke declared with a sigh.

"Well... Do you know?" Chie asked again.

"Chie, even if I did, would I tell you?"

"Yes?"

Yosuke deflated. "Just... think about it. If Souji has a girlfriend, and he hasn't told anyone, it means he doesn't want anyone to know, right? And why would he want that?"

Chie's brow furrowed. "I don't know..."

"Just think about it. Use that brain of yours! Souji is super popular, right? And the girl he picks... She's going to be targeted by lots of jealous girls wishing she were the one. It wouldn't be pretty."

"Oh, I didn't think about that," Chie admitted. "So Souji's keeping it a secret to protect her."

"Exactly."

They sat in companionable silence for a few long moments.

"Still... I won't tell anyone, so who is it, Yosuke?"

Yosuke smacked his face with his palm.

* * *

"Yosuke-senpai~~~"

Yosuke nearly jumped. It was after class, and he was at his shoe locker, getting ready to leave and go to work, when that angelic voice floated towards him. "Oh, Rise-san. What's up?" He shifted nervously. Even though Rise was on the Investigation Team, they'd never really interacted much. Her talking to him like this was highly unusual.

Rise bounded cheerfully towards him, the coppery curls of her pigtails bouncing and catching the light. "Hey~~ Are you heading out? Let's walk together."

One of the several boys following Rise—part of her mobile fan club—gave him a nasty look, but he ignored it. "Well, I'm heading to Junes, but you can come along, yeah."

Yosuke watched her closely while they walked out the school gates. He'd been a fan of Risette since he'd first heard her music what felt like ages ago, but Rise herself... well, he was uncomfortable around her, mainly because of her massive crush on Souji. She'd latched onto him like, like... like Teddie to a Topsicle, or something... Damn, he'd have to buy some Topsicles today, he'd promised...

"So, Yosuke-senpai..." she began when they reached a quiet street. "A little birdie told me _you_ know who Senpai's girlfriend is." She smiled at him, so perky and bubbly and... fake...

"Oh..."

He should have known there was no way that Rise had wanted to walk with him because she simply wanted to walk with him. Of course there was an ulterior motive at work.

"You don't have to tell me who," Rise went on, "but maybe tell me about her?"

"I've never met her," Yosuke said. He walked a little bit faster now, not exactly to get away from the conversation, but...

Rise easily matched his pace. "Surely Senpai told you something...?"

He thought about it. Maybe he could mess with her, just a little. "She's a fan of yours," he told her. "Of Risette."

"Oh..." Rise seemed troubled by that, but then she cheered up. "She has good taste, then! That's good, right?"

Yosuke felt it keenly—Rise was really upset about this, the idea that Souji had a girlfriend. He almost felt bad for her...

...almost.

"Yeah, sorry," he said. "I really don't know much more about it than you do. He's pretty good at hiding stuff... I never did find the goods in his room." Wait, Rise didn't need to know about that! "Err, like, Dojima-san never knew about the TV World the whole time, you know? It was hard enough to keep it from my own parents, and they aren't cops." Explaining to his mom his sudden urge to do his own laundry—so that she'd never see his torn and bloodstained clothes—had been really weird, that was for sure.

Rise had a finger on her chin; she was thinking. "I suppose... but why would Senpai hide something like that from us? Is he worried that we won't like her? I just can't imagine... that after all we've been through, it isn't... one of us."

He'd never thought about that before. That Souji could choose to date someone 'normal'—or at least, someone without a Persona, someone who knew nothing of the TV World—and it didn't seem right at all. He could agree with her on that.

"Don't worry," he told her. "I-I mean," he hastily amended, "Souji wouldn't choose just anyone. That's a guarantee!"

Her eyes narrowed, and then widened. "Thanks, Yosuke-senpai. But I have to _know._ I'll find out who it is, just you wait!"

When he reached Junes, Yosuke was feeling more than a little worried...

* * *

The next day he was craving a steak skewer because Chie mentioned them in class, so he joined the short line at Souzai Daigaku after school to get one. He was on his own; he hadn't wanted to invite Chie because she'd probably make him pay somehow, and Souji was at basketball practice or band practice, Yosuke forgot which one but whatever, the point was Souji wasn't available today and _he was hungry._

"Yo, senpai."

Yosuke turned slightly to see a tall and muscular form sauntering up to him in the line. "Oh, hey Kanji," he greeted.

"You busy?"

Yosuke shrugged his shoulders, which was kind of hard to do with his arms crossed. "Not really... What's up?"

Kanji didn't mince words. "Wanna talk to you 'bout somethin'."

Yosuke stepped forward in line as the next customer was served. "Yeah, okay. Let me get some food first, all right?"

"A'ight." Kanji sat down at the table near the stall and waited for him. When he finished ordering and received his food, Yosuke sat across from him.

Yosuke bit off a piece of the skewer and asked Kanji what he wanted with his mouth full.

Kanji's naturally hard expression softened somewhat. "Rise was sayin'... Souji-senpai's got a girl. I was wonderin'..."

Yosuke swallowed the steak in his mouth and waved the skewer around. "Dude, I don't know who it is, if anyone, why won't you guys stop asking, geez!"

Kanji's steely gaze didn't waver. " _I was wonderin'_ if I should, maybe, knit something that he could give her."

Yosuke bit his tongue.

"Somethin' cute, like a flower or a kitten," Kanji went on. "Girls dig cute things, you know?"

"Y-yeah," Yosuke managed. "That's, uh, really really nice of you, Kanji, but I don't think it'll be necessary."

"Oh... really?" Kanji sounded kind of disappointed.

"You taught Souji to knit, right? Because he already made something. He showed it to me. It was, umm, a bunny..."

"Oh," said Kanji. "Oh! Sweet! I gotta ask him to show me. Eh, if he hasn't already given it to the girl."

"Uhh, yeah..."

After Kanji left, Yosuke brought out his cell phone frantically texted Souji to tell him not to show Kanji the little bunny Yosuke doll he'd knitted.

* * *

Yosuke was having lunch alone today, or that was the plan, anyway—Souji was tied up with Naoki Konishi, and Yosuke didn't begrudge poor Naoki that at all.

However, he heard the telltale clang of the stairwell door opening, and sighed when he saw a slight figure in a blue cap step out onto the roof.

"All right, Naoto," Yosuke said when she approached. "Who roped you into this? Was it Rise?"

The detective had the decency to stiffen at his accusation—he was obviously on the mark. "I'm sure I have no idea what you mean. I only wished to have lunch with... you..."

The puzzled look present on Naoto's face by the time she reached the end of her statement made Yosuke laugh out loud. They both knew how unlikely it was that she'd go out of the way to seek him, of all people, out for lunch. "Yeah, whatever," he said. "Have a seat."

They ate in relative silence, the only noise the clattering of their chopsticks as they both ate from their commercially-packaged bento boxes. Naoto was a very prim eater, he noticed, wielding said chopsticks with skill and dexterity. Her posture was uninviting, her shoulders hunched stiffly against the cool winter breeze, and she obviously did not want to be here, but was enduring it anyway. He guessed it was for Rise. From what Yosuke knew of her, Naoto usually spent lunch by a computer in the library, doing research on whatever case she was working on.

"Aren't you going to ask?" Yosuke said when they'd both mostly finished their food.

Naoto sighed. "I suppose I must." She rested her chin in the palm of her hand, fingers tucked under her chin, and turned those silver-gray eyes on him with disguised curiosity. Under that direct gaze, Yosuke found himself squirming despite knowing it was a huge tell. If anyone could put it all together, it would be Naoto. He had to be really careful here...

Maybe he could just deny that he knew and keep his mouth shut. Yeah, that sounded good. "I really don't know anything," he declared.

"I can believe that." Naoto chuckled.

"Okay, that was just mean, Naoto." He couldn't think of a comeback, either... "You know what I meant."

"Perhaps you could elaborate...?" She waved her hand to indicate he should go on.

Yosuke sighed. "Look, if Souji likes someone... I know we all care about him, we all gotta make sure it's a good match for him... But I think... We're already up in his business, right? Maybe this is something we should just let happen."

Naoto was watching him thoughtfully. It was kind of unnerving... He thought of saying more, but wasn't that a way detectives got information? By having their victims fill in awkward silences...

"I see," Naoto said finally. She smiled at him, confident and unguarded. "I understand completely. In this, we must think of Souji's happiness. I'll pursue this no longer—thank you for speaking with me, Yosuke-senpai."

"Oh, uhh, thanks for being the first to let it go." He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

Naoto nodded. "I'll tell Rise-san, but I have my doubts that she will accept my decision. Please be prepared."

"Yeah... You know, you can be really cool when you want to, Naoto. I mean it!"

She seemed embarrassed by the compliment. "W-well, be that as it may be, I should be going..."

Yosuke watched her go, feeling much better than he did before they'd spoken.

* * *

Yosuke should have known it would come down to this: a no-holds-barred interrogation.

Rise had forced Souji to come to the Junes Food Court with her and Chie, and Chie had towed Yosuke along as well. The four of them were seated at the long square Junes table, the one with bench seating; Yosuke was situated to Souji's right, and the girls were together across from them.

"Senpai," Rise began. "We asked to meet up because we're worried about you."

"Worried about me?" Souji seemed puzzled. He glanced at Yosuke for a hint as to why, but Yosuke couldn't think of a way to convey it, so he just pretended he hadn't noticed. He hadn't really had a chance to tell Souji about the girls' persistent questioning; it had started only a few days ago...

"Well, yeah, Souji-kun," said Chie. "We're all really happy for you, but we just can't stand not knowing."

"I'll tell you, then," said Souji. "My favorite Topsicle flavor is the half-and-half berry one."

"Dude," Yosuke said with an unhappy grimace. "That's not what they want."

"Oh." Souji looked crestfallen.

Rise clapped her hands together. "Senpai! We want to know who your girlfriend is! We really want to meet her! We promise we'll welcome her."

"We won't scare her away!" Chie added. "We can all go out for lunch together, and I won't order a steak, haha..."

"Yeah, right," Yosuke said, but the sarcastic response was just rote; his heart wasn't into it. Chie kicked him under the table anyway.

"So please stop keeping it a secret, Senpai!" Rise pleaded.

"Ah," said Souji, and he tilted his head in a thoughtful pose. "You think I have a girlfriend."

" _Yes,_ Senpai!" said Rise.

"I don't." Souji smiled at them, but there wasn't that much humor in it.

Rise frowned. "Senpai. We _know_ you have one. There's no reason to deny it."

"Those hearts you were drawing were pretty serious, Souji-kun," said Chie.

Souji sighed. "The hearts again...?"

"Yeah, really!" Yosuke agreed. "...Maybe you should never have drawn them."

Souji seemed aggrieved, but the girls didn't notice. "Besides that," Chie continued, "we've all noticed you've been happier and more, well, daydreamy than you normally are, Souji-kun. Not that it proves anything, but if you are happy with someone, you know you don't need to hide it from us. We're your friends."

" _Tell us,_ Senpai," Rise begged.

"It couldn't be," said Souji, "that I'm just happy in general because Nanako-chan and my uncle are back from the hospital? That I'm happy we stopped Ameno-sagiri and dispelled the fog? That I'm happy that I got top grades in class once again?"

"Naoto-kun wouldn't help us, but we did some investigating," Chie admitted slowly. "We talked to Nanako-chan, and she totally believes you're in love with someone, but she wouldn't say who."

" _You talked to Nanako-chan!?_ " Yosuke squeaked. It never occurred to him that they'd go that far... Then something far more important became apparent. "Wait... _Nanako-chan knows who!?_ "

Souji's shoulders rumbled, and he snorted loudly and began to laugh, slowly at first, and then with increasing intensity.

"We knew she'd be sensitive to anything involving Souji-kun," Chie explained. "And we thought we'd hit the jackpot, but..."

"We asked her who," said Rise, "but she wouldn't say! It was _sooo_ aggravating."

"She made that little zipping motion over her mouth, you know, like her lips are sealed." Chie demonstrated the motion and Yosuke watched in horrified fascination.

"Well, that's good at least," Yosuke muttered. "I can't believe it... Nanako-chan... knows." _We were doing so good,_ he thought. _But dammit, Souji, I told you kids picked up on things like that so quickly!_

"So, umm, obviously we know it's a secret," Chie went on, "and, well, Rise-chan is dying to know..."

Souji was trying hard to control his laughter, but he only managed to start gasping heavily for breath instead.

"It's not funny, Senpai!" Rise cried. "We want to know because we care about you, so please just tell us!"

Souji wiped the tears from his eyes, finally calming down. "There's just... there's nothing to tell."

Rise grabbed his wrist from across the table, and pulled him forward. "Senpai. We—"

"Leave him alone!" Yosuke lifted himself from his seat, his palms down on the table, and scowled at them.

The girls turned their heads to look at him, but Rise did not let go of Souji. "Yosuke?" said Chie.

"I've told you both that it's really none of your business," he said. "And you still won't drop it? Will you stop and look at yourself, Rise?"

"Easy for you to say, when you know who it is!" Rise growled and threw Souji's hand away so that she could sit back, cross her arms, and pout. "Senpai's oh-so-important partner. Senpai, how could you tell him and not us?"

Souji pretended not to hear. He brought out some origami paper from his pocket and began to concentrate on folding a paper crane.

"Duh," said Yosuke. "Because I'm a guy. You girls are never going to understand. When it comes to something like this, it's just better if you don't know."

"We're going to find out!" Rise declared. She grabbed the stack of origami paper so that Souji couldn't make any more cranes, so that he had to give her his attention. But instead of looking at her, Souji stared at the spot where the paper had been with a careful, but blank expression.

Yosuke sighed and threw his hands up in exasperation. "Souji doesn't have a girlfriend. All right? End of story."

"You're really going to keep saying that? You as much told us that he does..." Chie frowned.

"Senpai, just tell us already!"

"God, you girls are so _dense._ " Yosuke couldn't help it. He was getting pissed off, and he suspected there was no other way to end this. Even if he walked away from them now, they'd continue bothering Souji another day. Souji might not crack for a long time, but... "Fine. Fine! Yeah, I know who it is."

Rise fixed her eyes on him, her expression somewhat unpleasant, but brighter than it had been a moment ago.

Yosuke tugged on Souji's arm, pulled him in, and kissed him right on the mouth. He then glared at Rise confidently. "There. It's me, all right?" _Take that!_ he thought. "He doesn't have a girlfriend. He has a _boyfriend._ "

Rise hissed and smacked Yosuke so hard from across the table that he fell heavily into Souji, and they both tumbled off the bench seat and onto the ground.

"Senpai is _not gay,_ " Rise screamed, "and if you are, Yosuke, well, _nobody really cares._ But you are going to leave Senpai out of it!"

Somehow in the fall Yosuke ended up flat on Souji's chest. He wanted to scramble away and pretend that he hadn't just outed himself in front of his friends, but damn, he was pissed, and...

...and the look on Souji's face was captivating. Souji was smiling at him with loving approval.

Rise had walked around the table to continue to yell at him, but he didn't hear any of her words.

Souji reached up, put his hand around the back of Yosuke's head, and pulled him down into a passionate kiss.

...and nothing else mattered.

* * *

When Yosuke came back down to earth, Rise was nowhere to be seen, and Chie was backing away with her hand over her mouth, but she didn't seem to be too surprised, like it all just suddenly made sense to her. Of course it did. Chie had her moments, but she wasn't stupid. The problem instead was whether or not she approved.

...Which would have to be sorted out later because she totally took off when she saw Yosuke looking back at her.

Souji pulled him back down, not for a kiss, but just to put his head against his chest, to hold him tightly on the ground there. "Yosuke," he murmured. "I'm sorry it came down to this. It's my fault, with the hearts."

"The secret wouldn't have lasted much longer anyway, if Nanako-chan knows." Yosuke sighed.

"I promise I didn't tell her..." Souji murmured.

"I know. She's just a smart girl. You should be proud."

Souji rubbed his back affectionately.

"Besides, Souji... I kind of liked the hearts..." Yosuke admitted. He buried his face in Souji's shirt.

"Ah, there he is, Kanji-ku—" Naoto's voice trailed off.

Yosuke looked up and saw the two approaching, but he didn't even bother trying to get off of Souji.

"—n," Naoto finished. "Well. I see my suspicion is confirmed..." She then took Kanji's arm and firmly pulled him back the way they had come.

"Her 'suspicion'?" Yosuke muttered after she and Kanji were gone. "I _thought_ she'd given up her questioning too easily the other day... Oh, and I guess you can show Hopsuke to Kanji now." Yosuke sighed again.

"Yeah, I was going to ask you what that text was about," said Souji.

They rested comfortably—or uncomfortably, in Souji's case. The concrete couldn't be too pleasant on his back—in that awkward position together for a while in silence.

"Tomorrow is going to be interesting," Souji said eventually.

"No kidding," said Yosuke.

"Are you okay?" Souji asked while ruffling through Yosuke's hair with his hand.

"I'm..." Yosuke swallowed. "Yeah, I'm fine. I... I like you Souji. I'm not ashamed of it."

"I'm glad... We'll work through this together," Souji promised. "Like everything else."

"Yeah, partner." Yosuke looked him in the eyes. "We will."


	7. Out and Out

[Summary: Souji and Yosuke officially reveal their relationship to the Investigation Team. And some others...?]

* * *

Yosuke paused at the top of the stairwell, right before the door that led to the school's roof. He didn't really want to go up there and meet with the others... He'd seen how Chie kept looking at him in class today when she thought he wouldn't notice. Curious and suspicious all at the same time, like he might do a funny trick or something...

"Are you all right?" his boyfriend asked from a few steps behind.

Yosuke nervously brushed a hand through his floppy brown hair as he glanced back at Souji. "Y- yeah... It almost feels like I'm taking you home to meet my parents or something..."

"We could do that after," Souji suggested with a teasing smile.

"No. Way." Yosuke crossed his arms and glared at him, and Souji laughed, soft and rumbling, and his ease in laughing just made Yosuke's anxiety worse. How could his partner be totally okay with coming out to their friends...?

"Come on," Souji said. "Or I'll start kissing you. And then they'll wonder where we are, and open the door, and..."

"All right, all right!" Yosuke grumbled. Although that sounded kind of tempting...

"Don't worry, we can make out later," Souji told him, brushing his fingers across Yosuke's cheek.

Yosuke blushed hard. Had he said that out loud? He shook his head and opened the stairwell door with determination. Luckily the winter wind gave him an excuse to have flushed cheeks. It was a breezy day, or maybe it felt that way due to the sudden transition from warm school stairwell to cold rooftop.

Chie and Yukiko were sitting next to each other, matching bookends in green and red. Next to Yukiko was Naoto, looking warm in her cardigan coat—shouldn't she be in her school uniform...? Next to Chie was Rise who was sitting casually with her hands in her lap. Kanji wasn't there, and Yosuke wondered if Souji hadn't invited him or if he just couldn't make it because he had to help his mom with the shop.

"Uh, hey guys," Yosuke greeted. He crossed his arms again and waited for Souji to catch up and join the group. The next thing he knew, though, Souji was embracing him from behind, looking at their friends over his shoulder. "D-dammit, Souji!"

"I just wanted to make an announcement," Souji said, not letting Yosuke go, although, to his credit, Yosuke wasn't struggling or anything. "Yosuke and I are dating."

Yosuke closed his eyes in fear of everyone's reaction. "Relax," Souji whispered in his ear, squeezing him a little tighter. His breath was so warm... Yosuke forced himself to release his own held breath and to reopen his eyes.

"Well, that is kinda what we were talking about before you finally got here," Chie said with a small laugh. She stretched her legs out before her and then bent them again. "That was a pretty passionate kiss yesterday. I mean, wow."

"I can't believe I missed it," Yukiko said. She looked thoroughly depressed about missing it, too.

"It kind of shook my world," Chie admitted. "But you guys were always pretty close, so... It makes sense in retrospect. Right, Rise?" She turned her head to look at the idol next to her.

"Oh, Senpai." Rise sighed. "I should've known that you were, umm... But I see why you didn't want to tell us. I'm sorry, Senpai, and Yosuke-senpai, too."

Her slap yesterday had stung, but Yosuke told her there was no harm done. "I'm just glad you didn't use your nails..." he muttered.

"We didn't want to tell anyone," Souji continued, "until we were sure ourselves that this was what we wanted."

"And it is," Yosuke added, lifting his head and daring anyone to challenge it. "Souji is _mine._ "

"It looks more like you're Souji's, to me," Chie commented with a snicker.

Yosuke scowled and tried to wriggle out of his boyfriend's arms, but it didn't work because he didn't really want to get out. Besides, all it did was make Souji hold him tighter, and heck any tighter and he might not be able to breathe.

"So," said Souji. "Any questions?"

"What?" Yosuke protested. "They don't need to know any more than this!"

"How long have you been together, anyway?" Chie asked.

Naoto spoke up. "I suspect the pair has been together since on or around New Year's."

"Damn, Naoto," Yosuke said. "How in the world...?"

She nodded to herself with a smug smile.

Chie raised another question. "And are you two happy?"

"Hell yes!" Yosuke exclaimed. "Uh, I mean... Y-yeah..." Chie was now laughing at him. He felt his face get warm. He hadn't meant to be so enthusiastic. God, that was embarrassing...

"Mmm-hmm..." Souji rubbed his face against Yosuke's. Ah, maybe that was even more embarrassing. Any minute now, Yosuke suspected, Souji would start kissing him in front of everyone. He would just die of mortification.

"So..." Rise began. "How far have you gone, Senpai?" She spoke in a very playful tone of voice. She seemed to have recovered from the news rather quickly... but that was Risette for you—always bouncing back.

"We're mostly just at the kissing stage," Souji replied promptly.

"D-don't tell them that!" Yosuke squawked, face coloring further.

"But I think we'll soo—unf!" Yosuke cut Souji off by kicking him in the shin with his heel and breaking away from his embrace.

"Private life is private, okay!?" Yosuke declared. "No one needs to know that!"

Souji started laughing even as he stood on one leg to massage his injured shin.

Yosuke glared at him.

"I'm sorry, Yosuke," Souji said, managing a half-way sincere look somehow.

"Ahh, whatever," Yosuke muttered.

"You should kiss and make up!" Chie suggested.

Yosuke whirled and turned his scowl on her. "No way!" She was grinning at him like a shark, and Yukiko was nodding next to her in support, apparently eager to see what she'd missed the previous day. His indignation evaporated as he realized that if they were teasing him about it... that meant they accepted it, that he and Souji were a couple, and that made him... kind of light-headed with relief.

Unless they were teasing him because they didn't think he was serious. He wouldn't put it past them. He glanced at Souji, who was still bent on the floor and rubbing his shin. Man, he hadn't hit him _that_ hard... He wasn't Chie! Yosuke stepped over to him, and when the silver-haired boy looked up, met him with a kiss. A simple kiss, just lips on lips, but he felt Souji smile into it and that warmed him up more than the New Years amazake.

...He almost forgot the others were there until Naoto ahem'd. Yosuke broke away. All four of the girls were blushing. Chie and Naoto were looking at the floor, Yukiko was giggling into her hand, and Rise was fanning her face.

"W-well," Chie said, scratching her head sheepishly. "I was kind of joking, haha..."

Then Yosuke's cell phone rang. He checked the name. It was his dad, which meant his day was about to be ruined. With a belabored sigh he excused himself from the group and answered it.

And he was right. He returned to them less than a minute later to inform them he had to leave— someone had called out at Junes and he had to make up the shift. "Sorry, partner..." he told Souji. "I guess I'll call you later."

Souji saw him off with a light peck on the cheek. "I'll hold you to it."

Yosuke turned to the girls awkwardly. "Umm, see you, I guess."

Yukiko started snickering for no apparent reason—maybe Chie whispered something at her—and he left before it turned into the inevitable laughing fit.

* * *

Souji remained on the roof with the four girls. Rise patted the spot next to her. "Senpai?" Souji sat there, and she hesitantly laid her hand on his forearm. "Senpai... I should've known that you were... I've seen all kinds of people in the business, but I didn't realize at all..."

Souji smiled at her, not unkindly. "It's not something I like to advertise, you understand. But I've known for a while that I... prefer men. That's why I didn't exactly... respond to you."

"Y-yeah..." Rise murmured with pink cheeks. "I understand now..."

"But now the big question is, why Yosuke?" Chie said with a laugh.

"Yeah, really!" Rise said, eager to know.

Souji opened his mouth to answer but was interrupted.

"It's obvious, Chie." Everyone, including Souji, turned to look at Yukiko as she spoke. "Yosuke- kun is his prince."

"That's..." Chie said, eyes wide. It was strange to hear Yukiko reference her own Shadow, but Yukiko was like that sometimes...

"Or, maybe he's Yosuke-kun's prince." Yukiko paused. "I haven't _quite_ decided."

Souji smiled at Yukiko, full of warmth. "Exactly. Yosuke and I look out for each other. He said it first—we're partners. I know he's not perfect—no one's perfect—and maybe he does speak without thinking—but he's honest. He's hard-working; we all know that. And he's brave, too. He allowed himself to explore his feelings, to find out that he liked me, too, even though he was scared." Souji sighed, but he was still smiling. "I'm not sure I've ever been happier."

"You've clearly deliberated this," Naoto noted. "We know you are not one to rush into things."

"Love isn't about thinking, Naoto-kun," Rise chided. "You justify it after the fact." She giggled. "Face it, Senpai—you just thought Yosuke was cute, and then it built from there."

"Well, maybe," Souji admitted. "His hair is so soft, and whenever those pretty brown eyes catch mine, I—" He was blushing now. "Yeah, maybe."

"And every time he called you 'partner,' your heart fluttered a little more, is that right?" Now Chie was giggling too. She apologized for it. "I'm sorry. It's still a little funny. I mean, _our_ Yosuke..."

"I don't mind," Souji told her. "I understand that it might take some getting used to. But it's serious... so please don't tease him too much about it."

The girls agreed, and then the subject changed to Valentine's Day, which was coming up soon...

* * *

After school on Saturday, Souji invited Yosuke to the Samegawa riverbank, where he laid out a blanket over the snow-covered grass. It was a mild day. Not warm enough to melt the snow, but not cold enough to prevent them from enjoying the outdoors. They sat together on the blanket, watching the clouds and birds go by, talking about little, mostly-unimportant things...

And holding hands. And leaning against each other. And sometimes kissing.

"Tomorrow," Souji said. "You're coming over, right? You promised... We'll make a snowman with Nanako?"

"Snow bunny," Yosuke corrected. "And yeah, I'm just gonna, you know, not answer if my dad calls. Heh."

"Good." Souji brushed his nose against Yosuke's ear. "Maybe you could stay overnight again?"

"Ah, that..." Yosuke cleared his throat. The last time he'd stayed over, they'd finished one of Souji's model kits. Yosuke had been unsure of their relationship then, had been afraid to even let Souji touch him... It would be different this time, but he knew Souji wouldn't make him do anything he wasn't ready for. "I'd like to, but I don't know. It depends on my family. Someone has to watch Teddie, you know. And won't you have to get Dojima-san's permission?"

"I don't think he'll mind too much. As long as we stay quiet. Well, just let me know when you can..."

Yosuke promised that he would, and then started thinking about how he'd ask his mom for permission.

Something rustled in the snow behind them. A week ago, Yosuke might have frantically pulled himself away from Souji, but no more. If he was serious about this—and he was—he had to be brave. Besides, they were sitting on the same blanket, anyway.

An elderly white dog circled them. Yosuke recognized it as Chie's. "Muku?" The dog sniffed his outstretched legs and wagged its tail.

Soon enough Chie was calling after it. "Muku! Get back here! Oh, it's you two. Oh... Oh!" She spied how close they were. "S-Sorry, I didn't know you were... Eh heh." She tilted her head and scratched it in embarrassment.

"You don't have to leave," Souji told her. "This is Muku? The dog you found with Yukiko?" Souji patted its head with his free hand and the dog leaned into him happily.

"It's really weird to see you guys like this," Chie said. "Umm, no offense! I don't think Yosuke is the romantic type, is all. A walk in the park is probably beyond him."

"What—?" Yosuke protested. "Hey, I'm plenty romantic! I'm way more romantic than you, you kung fu nut."

"Oh? Have you brought Souji-kun flowers yet?" Chie teased.

"What... Why would I do that?" Yosuke seemed surprised.

Chie snorted. "Told ya."

"A guy bringing a guy flowers?" Yosuke muttered. "That's just... weird..."

"I like carnations," Souji told him. "But roses are always good. Or maybe... chrysanthemums."

"What the hell, man?" Yosuke glared at him.

Souji kissed him high on the neck.

"Dude, not in front of Chie!" Yosuke blushed and leaned away.

"Ahaha," Chie laughed. "I was just going. Have fun, you two! Come, Muku!"

"Bring me some flowers," Souji pleaded after she had left.

"Dude, no."

Souji whined much like a dog and nuzzled his neck further.

"Ugh, seriously?" Yosuke complained.

* * *

They cuddled for a while until Souji told him it was time for their appointment with Kanji.

"Ah, I don't really want to..." Yosuke muttered. One, it was really comfortable here leaning next to Souji, and two, he was well-aware of how hypocritical his past treatment of Kanji was.

"I'd rather we told him ourselves," Souji said, "instead of waiting for the girls to tell him. Don't you think so?"

Yosuke sighed his agreement and followed Souji to Tatsumi Textiles, where Kanji's kind old mother met them. She directed them to go right on into the back, and Souji led the way down the hall to the living room. It had a small, old-fashioned TV, a short table, two couches, and a cabinet in the corner. Kanji was seated on the floor in the front of the table, sorting through the sewing supplies strewn all over it.

"Yo, Senpai. Oh, and Yosuke-senpai." Kanji's eyebrows drew together, well, more together than they naturally were. "Yosuke-senpai wants to learn this, too?"

"I'm just visiting," Yosuke assured him, trying his best not to sound rude by declining. "I was, ah, curious. Do you mind if I stay?"

Kanji rolled his heavy shoulders in a shrug. "Not a prob."

Yosuke made himself comfortable on the far couch and put his headphones on. He kept the music's volume low so that he could still take part in the conversation.

"So... sewing, right?" Kanji asked. "You got any experience at all, Senpai?"

"A little," Souji said. "Sometimes when I was a kid I had to take care of small tears in my clothes. Mostly just patch jobs, nothing fancy." Yosuke raised an eyebrow at this. Souji always took very good care of his clothes. Maybe that was why.

The bleach-blond boy nodded. "You know how to thread a needle, then. The hardest part, sometimes. We'll just do some running stitches today, easy stuff. You'll get it real fast, Senpai."

Despite the assurance, it didn't turn out to be that easy for Souji because, well, because he was Souji.

"Senpai, you're not supposed to put the needle back through like that!"

"But it's not perfect..." Souji growled. "It's a millimeter away from where I meant to put it!"

Kanji scratched his head, obviously unsure what to say to that. "'S just practice, Senpai, doesn't have to be perfect. Besides, dependin' on the material, that'd leave extra holes in the fabric."

"Is this that sort of material?"

"Well, no," Kanji admitted, "but it's a bad habit to get into, undoing stitches."

"Don't care," Souji said under his breath, pulling hard on one of the stitches in the material he was working with. "Has to be _just right._ "

Yosuke snorted, unable to contain his amusement any longer. When the two boys looked at him, he told Kanji he was being way too patient with Souji. "Just tell him to stop being a dumbass and finish the damn stitching."

"Yosuke!" Souji looked and sounded offended.

By now Souji had unraveled half of his work in frustration. Looking at it, Kanji suggested that maybe a sewing machine would be better for him.

Souji sighed. "Thanks for the lesson, anyway, Kanji."

"Something Souji isn't perfect at!" Yosuke declared. "Finally!"

Souji glanced at him, unamused. "Well, if that's it for the day... We have something to tell you, Kanji."

"O-oh, right," Yosuke muttered, looking away from the both of them.

"Yeah, senpai?" Kanji began to put away his sewing needles in a little blue case that was designed to contain them. Then he picked up the spool Souji had used and ensured that the thread's end was secured on the rim before putting it into a sewing case that already contained dozens of other spools in a magnificent array of colors.

"Yosuke and I are, well, dating," Souji said, his cheeks just a little pink.

Kanji paused for just a moment, then closed the lid to the sewing case. "Doesn't take Naoto to figure that one out, Senpai. No offense."

Yosuke gaped at him. "You knew!?" Did Kanji, like, have a sixth sense for people who went that way? Probably did, probably from his Persona...

"'S pretty obvious. You two're always together, always lookin' at each other..." Kanji scratched his nose. "Look, I know people don't think I'm the brightest, but I ain't stupid, alright? It does help," he added, "that we caught you kissin' at the food court the other day."

"We are the opposite of subtlety, partner," Yosuke said with a sigh.

"Look, if it's what you want," Kanji said, "It don't really matter to me."

"Thank you, Kanji," Souji said. "We appreciate your support."

Kanji grunted, stood up, and hefted the heavy sewing case with ease to the cabinet in the room. Souji stood up, too, left the room, and returned a moment later with a broom and dustpan.

He handed the broom to Yosuke. "Actually, I need get back home," Souji said. "I promised Nanako- chan I'd be home in time for dinner. You can take care of clean up, right Yosuke?"

"Like I don't sweep enough at Junes," Yosuke muttered under his breath. He took the broom anyway and stood up to start sweeping. He was aware after the third stroke that Souji was still standing there, staring at him. "What, partner? Go on, I don't really mind."

Souji brought his fingers up to his own lips. He wanted a goodbye kiss.

Yosuke's eyes flitted to Kanji, who was putting away some fabric that they hadn't used. Not in front of him!

Souji sighed and told him he'd see him tomorrow. Yosuke nodded and went back to sweeping.

After he gathered a pile of dust, he set the broom aside and picked up the dustpan that Souji had left on the table. Kanji then took the broom to sweep the other side of the room.

Yosuke knew he shouldn't ask. He really shouldn't, but he was too curious, so he had to. "Say, Kanji... We aren't blind either. What's the deal with you and Naoto, anyway?"

Kanji's shoulders hunched defensively, but he didn't stop sweeping, though his grip on the handle was much tighter now. "None of your damned business."

"But you like her, right?" Yosuke asked, waving around the dustpan. "You've always liked her?"

"What's it matter to you?" Kanji growled.

"S-Sorry, I just..." Yosuke groped for the words he wanted to say. 'How does that even work?' – true, but Kanji would take that the wrong way. "I'm just wondering how you knew... that you liked her... even before you knew she was... pleasedon'thitme." He cringed.

"Just knew," Kanji answered simply. Yosuke opened his eyes and Kanji was still calmly sweeping. "Didn't think about it. Sometimes peoples' problems is just thinkin' too hard."

"I bet Naoto thinks too hard, too."

"Prob'ly," Kanji agreed. "It's her job."

Yosuke wondered if Kanji would ever tell her. He wondered if he should try to encourage him to tell her. But he knew if people got into his and Souji's business, he would not appreciate it... And whether Naoto was completely oblivious to Kanji's feelings or just playing oblivious was a mystery of its own. Yosuke wasn't close enough to her to find out, and the next closest was Rise, who probably wasn't going to be friendly to him for claiming Souji.

"Hey, Kanji..." Yosuke tipped the dustpan's contents into the trash bin, and then glanced at the boy. "Thanks. For... umm... For being cool. With me and Souji."

Kanji snorted. "Better not hear any more 'bout my Shadow from you, senpai."

"You got it!" Yosuke promised quickly. He punctuated it with a nervous laugh. Yeah, he had totally forfeited his right to rag on Kanji...

* * *

It was Sunday. Yosuke arrived at the door to the Dojima residence, hiding a bundle under his school jacket. Souji grinned wolfishly when he answered the door and saw it. "Oh? What's this?" he asked.

"Nuh-uh!" Yosuke danced to keep the bundle out of Souji's reach as he entered the house. "Nanako-chan!" he called.

"Yosuke-nii?" Nanako-chan turned off the television and raced towards him, stopping when she saw that his hands were full. Her eyes widened with curiosity.

Souji watched with silent amusement. Yosuke ignored him. "Nanako-chan," he said. "I got something for you."

"For me?" Her soft brown eyes widened further.

Yosuke drew the jacket off the bundle dramatically, revealing a bouquet of fresh-cut yellow and purple irises.

The girl buried her nose in the soft petals. "They smell so nice! Thank you, Yosuke-nii!"

"Come on, let's set them up." Yosuke set the flowers down on the dining room table, brought out a vase made of sturdy green glass from his backpack, filled it halfway with water from the kitchen sink, and then put the flowers in the vase, fussing with them for a bit to fluff them out. They'd wilted a little while under his jacket.

"Big bro, aren't they pretty?" Nanako-chan asked. "Dad's going to be surprised."

"They're beautiful," said Souji, but he wasn't looking at the flowers.

Yosuke was proud of his self-control. He didn't blush at all. He did cough before speaking, though. "Ah, I saw them on sale at Junes, you know, so I thought, well, 'who's as pretty as a flower?' and went ahead and got them, heh heh."

"They're from Junes?" Nanako-chan turned to him with a look of wonder.

"Every day's great," he told her with a grin.

"Yeah!" She sang the jingle to him, dancing and waving her arms. She paused all of a sudden. "Oh! Yosuke-nii, can I put some of the flowers in my room?"

"Sure. Do you have something to put them in?"

Nanako-chan nodded and went into her room.

"I never knew you were so good with kids," Souji commented while she was gone.

Yosuke shrugged. "Nah, she's just easy to please. Kind of like you... Are you sure you're not really her brother?"

Souji batted him on the shoulder, and Yosuke pranced away. As he moved, though, something in the kitchen caught his eye.

The drawing that Yosuke had made of a cartoon bunny version of the three of them—Yosuke, Souji, and Nanako—standing around a half-made snowman was pinned to the refrigerator.

"Umm... Partner..." Yosuke said.

"Oh, yeah," Souji said, noticing the direction of his gaze. "Nanako-chan was doing the laundry when she found it in my pants pocket, and since she's in it, she wanted to hang it up."

Yosuke looked agitated.

"Don't worry, she didn't think anything of it," Souji assured him. "Rise and Chie are wrong. She doesn't know about us. In fact... Nanako-chan?" He called the girl into the kitchen.

She returned from her room, holding a cup. "Big bro?"

"Tell Yosuke what you said when you saw the drawing he made."

"Ugh, you didn't have to tell her that I drew it..." Yosuke muttered.

A wide smile grew on Nanako-chan's face. "We're going to make a snowman!?"

Souji patted her on the head. "Yep. Let's get you bundled up, okay?" Nanako-chan nodded, set the cup on the kitchen table, and excitedly went to get her winter jacket out from the closet in her room. "See, she's as pure as the driven snow."

"All right, all right. Maybe I do get worked up over nothing sometimes," Yosuke admitted. "But the girls were _positive_ that she knew about us..."

"You brought some gloves, right?" Souji asked. "If not, you can borrow uncle's pair, but they're kind of big."

"Hey, I came prepared, partner." Yosuke pulled out a pair of winter gloves from his pocket.

"I thought you might've forgot, what with the flowers. Irises, huh? They're very nice, by the way. Thank you."

Yosuke bit his cheek, determined not to blush in front of Souji's adoring gaze. "I would've got carnations, but they aren't in season."

"Irises are good, too," Souji said agreeably.

"They're for Nanako-chan," Yosuke muttered. "Remember that."

Nanako-chan returned and they helped her put on her bulky winter jacket. Souji placed a winter cap on her head that covered the tips of her ears. With the ensemble on, she looked like a pink and purple starfish that was reminiscent of one of Souji's Personas. Then, the three stepped outside and built a snowman together. Souji rolled the base, Yosuke the midsection, and Nanako-chan the head.

Turning the snowman into a snow bunny was more difficult than the boys initially thought. It turned out that snow ears were fragile when pointed straight up, so Yosuke ended up making it a floppy-eared rabbit instead. Then Souji brought out a carrot from the fridge and tied it to the twig they had used for one of its arms with some twine. Nanako-chan built the face using buttons from her room.

They stood back and admired the job well done. "Nanako-chan, what are you going to name it?" Yosuke asked her casually.

"I can name it!?" She seemed surprised.

"Of course," said Souji.

Her face wrinkled in thought. "Snow-chan!" she announced.

Yosuke laughed at the simplicity of it, and then told her it was a great name. She beamed at him.

Souji did too.

Work complete, they went back inside and helped Nanako-chan out of her layers of winter clothing, then gathered around the kitchen table. Nanako-chan asked Yosuke to put some of the flowers in the cup she had brought out earlier.

"Thank you again, Yosuke-nii!" Nanako-chan told him when he handed her the cup. "They're so pretty..."

Yosuke scratched the back of his head. "I told you, it's nothing. Livens up the place, you know?"

"Mmm," she said. "Oh! Big bro, do you have a pencil?"

Souji looked at her curiously. He slipped his hand into his jacket pocket and pulled out a partially-chewed up red pen. "Will this work?"

"Yeah!" She took it from him, and then went to the refrigerator and pulled down Yosuke's drawing. She brought it back to the table. "I just have to fix this," she explained. She uncapped the pen and looked at the drawing, concentration plain on her face.

"Oh, gonna finish drawing in Snow-chan?" Yosuke guessed.

Absorbed in thought, Nanako-chan didn't answer. She began to draw carefully on the paper. It didn't take her very long—when she was done, she triumphantly held it out to her big bro, who took it with an indulgent smile.

Yosuke saw the smile kind of freeze on his partner's face as he inspected the girl's changes to the drawing.

"Nanako-chan..." Souji said, sounding troubled.

Her smile was radiating sunshine. "Yosuke-nii and big bro bunny should be holding hands!" she declared.

Yosuke opened and closed his mouth several times. "Nanako-chan!" he squawked.

Nanako-chan looked at him with concern. "Is that wrong?" When he didn't answer, she looked at Souji, but he was staring at the table, biting his thumb, his cheeks turning as pink as some of the flowers on the table. "Big bro?"

The girl's expression saddened, and Yosuke sighed in defeat. "You're not wrong, Nanako-chan. In fact, you're absolutely right. We _should_ be holding hands." He darted out and grabbed Souji's hand and held it on the table. Souji drew in his breath sharply. His distressed look slowly morphed into a more relaxed grin as Yosuke entwined their fingers.

"Good!" Nanako-chan said, her bright smile returning.

"Uhh... How did you figure it out, Nanako-chan?" Yosuke asked.

"Big bro is really happy whenever you're around, Yosuke-nii. And you're the only one who really comes over to visit. And he talks about you the most!"

Souji's face was probably redder than Yosuke had ever seen it. "Is that so..." Yosuke murmured.

"Probably," Souji admitted.

"I won't tell," Nanako-chan promised. "Chie-chan and Rise-chan asked, but I didn't tell them!"

"Uh, thanks," Yosuke told her. "Especially don't tell your dad."

She nodded.

Souji let out his breath and visibly relaxed. Yosuke was somewhat amused that he seemed to be taking it better than his partner.

Well, it was quite a shock. So much for her being as pure as the driven snow, huh?

* * *

Souji sat at the kitchen table later that evening—Yosuke had not been able to stay the night— sipping at the hot coffee his uncle had poured for him. Nanako-chan had been put to bed already, and Dojima was sitting across from him, reading the newspaper. The scent of the irises on the table wafted over to him and mixed with the scent of coffee in a strange but pleasant way.

"So..." Dojima began conversationally from behind the wall of newspaper. "Why did Hanamura bring my daughter flowers?"

Souji almost spilled the coffee. The mug clanged against the table, he'd put it down so fast.

Dojima lowered the newspaper to look at him over its edge. "Is there something I should be aware of?" he continued.

Souji thought fast for an excuse that his uncle would buy and came up empty.

"My daughter isn't old enough to be receiving flowers from anybody."

"They're," Souji began. He cleared his throat. "They're for me. Not Nanako-chan."

Dojima grunted and went back to his newspaper.

They sat in silence for a while. "Uncle," Souji began.

"Souji. It's none of my business what you get up to with him—as long as you lock the door. And never do anything when Nanako's around. God forbid she walks in on you."

"Y-yes, uncle..."

Dojima eyed him over the newspaper. "I don't have to tell you about being safe, do I?"

"We're... not that far yet," Souji admitted. "But I know... about being safe." He stared into his coffee, his hand wrapped tightly around the mug, blushing furiously.

"Good." Dojima again went back to the newspaper, and silence returned, only broken by the rustle when he turned the pages.

"Please don't tell my parents," Souji blurted out.

Dojima dropped the newspaper so quickly onto the table that it made the flowers shed some petals. He gave Souji a very stern look, one he probably reserved for suspects at the station. "It's none of their damned business."

Souji might have loved his uncle more than Yosuke, if only for a moment. He rushed around the table and surprised the detective with a sudden hug. He hiccupped into his shirt, and Dojima awkwardly patted him on the back.

"You're a good kid, Souji," Dojima muttered in a _what the hell?_ sort of voice. He ruffled the boy's hair in what he probably hoped was an affectionate way.

Souji sniffled and thanked him over and over again.

* * *

[Author's Note: Fun fact: I didn't know that chrysanthemums were a symbol for gay sex in Japan until after I'd written this and sent it off to my beta... haha... I hope the other flowers I used don't have any suggestive symbolism associated with them!]


	8. Sleepover Too Soon

[Summary: Souji invites Yosuke over for another sleepover, but it ends in a way neither of them planned for.]

* * *

"Yosuke~"

The brown-haired boy whirled in surprise to find Souji trotting up to him, and his stomach seemed to do a little flip. Damn, it hadn't been that long since he'd seen his boyfriend, but the catty way Souji had called his name and the obvious excitement in his step almost made Yosuke's knees go weak.

"Y-yeah, partner?" Oh boy, he was tripping over his tongue already.

Souji sidled up next to him and they began to walk towards school together. The silver-haired boy waved a hand at the sky. "The weather report indicates we're in for some snow, so..." he trailed off.

"So...?" Yosuke prompted.

Souji's cheeks turned a little bit pink, more than the cold warranted. "So... I was thinking maybe we could study at my place again...?"

Yosuke chuckled and then told him, "I'll think about it."

Souji clicked his tongue in disappointment. Yosuke snickered, then took his hand and they walked together like that until they got closer to school.

* * *

All throughout class, Yosuke daydreamed about, well, the after school activities in his immediate future. He noticed Souji glancing out of the classroom's windows every so often, wondering, maybe, if the weather was going to cooperate with them.

Maybe they'd kiss in Souji's room this time. Maybe Souji would take him up on his offer to touch him. Yosuke suppressed a shudder. He'd been so scared the last time he stayed the night at the Dojima residence, but now... He crossed his arms at his desk and imagined they weren't his own. Then he wondered if that was creepy...

When class was over Yosuke told Souji he'd be over soon because he had to stop by at his own house to get his books for tomorrow and a change of clothes. He wasn't being entirely truthful. The main reason was that he had a gift for Souji that he wanted to pick up.

It was something silly, almost not worth bothering with, but...

"Yosukeeeeee! Where are you going?"

Crap. He'd just been caught in the middle of packing by Teddie. The bear was in his costume, standing right in the doorway, and…

"Is that Sensei's clothes?" the bear observed, his already comically large eyes widening further. "You're going to Sensei's house? No fair! I want to come, too!" Teddie lunged forward and grabbed Yosuke's arm and wouldn't let go.

Crap times two. Teddie had noticed that Yosuke had packed the uniform he'd borrowed from Souji during the last sleepover.

"We're just going to study for a bit. And we can't study with you around, you dumb bear!" Yosuke pushed him off, but the bear bounced right back up.

"Don't lie to meeeee," Teddie whined. "I know you're going over there to score with Sensei!"

Yosuke's jaw dropped, but he recovered enough to stammer, "What are you talking about!"

The bear folded his hands behind his back and waggled his ears with a smug (and disturbingly knowing) smile. "Rise-chan told me you're scoring!"

Crap times three. He and Souji hadn't quite figured out how they were going to explain their relationship to Teddie. The bear was so excitable that he'd probably announce it to the world, including Yosuke's parents. Yosuke didn't know how his parents would react if they found out he was dating a boy, and he didn't want to find out.

He obviously have to get Souji to have a talk with Teddie soon. He always listened to Sensei.

"Your face is all red, Yosuke! What's wrong? Are you sick?" The bear leaned his face in uncomfortably close to his. Yosuke could see the stitching around his costume's eyes and it was kind of creepy.

"I'm fine!" Yosuke declared, backing away. "It's just... scoring? We're not... ugh!"

"Yosuke!" Teddie picked up the backpack in his claws and pressed it into Yosuke's hands. "Go to Sensei and score and come back and tell me all about it!"

Yosuke swore at him but took the backpack and went downstairs. He'd just have to hope the bear wouldn't say anything to his mom. His parents considered Teddie 'eccentric,' so even if he did, Yosuke could probably find some way to explain it away.

He stopped in the kitchen to pick up Souji's 'gift' from the freezer—it was a box about the size of a shoebox—then headed into the garage where he grabbed a screwdriver from the workbench and then affixed the detachable metal wire basket to the front of his yellow bike. Only after he'd gone to the trouble of screwing all the bolts in did he realize he hadn't even checked if the cardboard box would fit in it. He was in luck: it did, but fit so snugly that his finger got caught when putting it in. Dammit, maybe it wasn't worth it... Souji was just gonna make fun of him... but he'd already gone this far to bring it...

He sped down the road to Souji's place, his heart in his throat half from pumping the bike pedals and half from anticipation. He squinted into the weak winter sunlight beaming in his face. Dammit, where was that snow?

Sleepover sleepover sleepover...!

Wh... What would Souji want to do...?

He was in the middle of a daydream about just that when he realized he was already there. The way to the Dojima residence was now second-nature to him, like going to school or work. He could get there with his mind in the clouds.

He parked his bike and spent a long time cursing while prying the cardboard box out of the wire basket. He hefted it under his arm and immediately regretted it because _damn_ it was still cold from being in the freezer. He felt it even through his uniform jacket.

He rang the doorbell with his free hand. "Hey, partner," he greeted when Souji opened the door.

"Hey," Souji said with a snow-melting smile. Damn, it was so great to see Souji's smile... But Yosuke couldn't take the time to appreciate it because the box was slipping under his arm. He awkwardly hopped his way inside and deposited it with an unceremonious slam onto the kitchen table and then rubbed his cold-numbed side with a small hiss.

"What's...?" Souji asked.

Yosuke turned the box around so the label was prominently displayed. He watched Souji's eyes brighten with delight.

It was a box of half and half berry flavored Topsicles.

Yosuke shrugged. "You said they were your favorite so—mmph!" Souji's mouth was suddenly on his.

Souji pulled away and rubbed his face against Yosuke's, humming contentedly.

"D-dude, it's just a box of Topsicles," Yosuke murmured. Damn, Souji was happier about this than the damned flowers he'd brought last time. "And it's already been opened because of Teddie."

Yosuke tried to return to the entryway to remove his shoes but found that Souji had snaked his arm around his waist. Souji pulled him in for another kiss. Yosuke didn't stop him and relaxed into the embrace. His friend's body was so warm after his trip through the cold, and if Souji was being this affectionate then probably no one was home...

"How long are you planning on keeping that door open?" Dojima's dry, smoke-coarsened voice came from the living room.

Yosuke yelped and pushed Souji away, though the detective probably couldn't see them. At least, Yosuke couldn't see him, at any rate.

Souji just smiled and patted his shoulder, then closed and locked the front door. Yosuke toed off one shoe before Nanako-chan came running out of nowhere and tackled his legs. "Yosuke-nii!"

He laughed and bent his knees to give the little girl a hug.

"Look what Yosuke brought," Souji said. He pointed to the Topsicle box and she did a little dance. "Oh~ Topsicles!"

This family is so easy to please, Yosuke thought, shaking his head in amusement.

Souji took the box and made room in the refrigerator for it while Yosuke listened to Nanako-chan tell him a story about an adventure her stuffed animals had gone on.

Yosuke wondered if they'd go to Souji's room next, but Souji said he had to start making dinner. Nanako-chan volunteered to help, but Souji told her to watch TV with her father. "You too, Yosuke."

"But watching you cook is..." Yosuke blushed instead of ending his sentence. _Way more interesting than television..._

Souji smiled at him but made a shooing motion with both of his hands and Yosuke had no choice but to join Nanako-chan at the kotatsu. It seemed like Dojima had turned the TV to a kids' show, some sort of cartoon. The little girl was quickly engrossed.

Yosuke tried to watch it with her, but he was aware that Dojima-san was watching him. The detective was only a few feet away, anyway, on the couch. Yosuke bit the inside of his cheek. Should he try to talk to him or something? He was pretty sure the detective didn't like him. Anything he could say would probably make it worse...

Dojima broke the silence himself. He nodded at the back porch. "Seems like we're in for some snow," he commented.

Yosuke looked out the window. Soft flakes were pouring down from the sky. Ah, so the weather _was_ on their side! He smiled to himself.

"Was it your idea to come over, or his?" Dojima asked slowly. "If this keeps up, you might have to stay the night."

Yosuke quickly wiped away his smile as he recounted the excuse he'd come up with earlier. "W- well, we have a trigonometry quiz coming up, so..."

Dojima snorted and shook his head. "Make sure you get your studying done before you start goofing off. And make sure to stay quiet."

Dojima was looking at him with a stern and steady gaze. Wh-what exactly did Dojima-san suspect him of?

"Yessir," Yosuke squeaked.

Dojima's eyes softened, and then he sighed and scratched his head. Then his eyes roamed to the TV and Yosuke relaxed a little.

When the cartoon was over, Dojima switched it to the news, and Nanako-chan asked Yosuke to play with her in her room.

To his embarrassment, he found the little brown Yosuke bunny that Souji had knitted a while ago sitting prominently next to Chan-chan, Nanako's favorite, a large purple rabbit.

"Umm," he said when she picked it up and showed it to him. He absently touched his headphones around his neck because the Yosuke bunny had a set of miniature headphones too... Souji had done a great job with it, he had to admit.

"I want big bro to make a big bro bunny!" Nanako-chan declared. "Then we could have a lot of fun!"

Wh-what, was she going to make them play house or something?

As if to demonstrate, she put the Yosuke bunny on the back of a plush pony and had it ride across the rug until she had it stop in front of 'Princess Maimai,' which was a doll with a surprisingly intricate lace dress.

They were enacting a scene from a fairy tale she'd learned in class recently when she suddenly put down the little black dog she was holding. "Hey, Yosuke-nii... U-umm..."

Still holding Chan-chan, he glanced at her quizzically. "Yeah, Nanako-chan?"

"Are you going to make chocolates for big bro for Valentine's Day?"

Yosuke clutched the plush rabbit to his chest reflexively in surprise and blushed furiously. "I, uh, I don't—"

"Shh!" she said, holding a finger to her lips. She motioned him to move closer. He leaned in, curious, and her tiny hands turned his head so that she could whisper in his ear. "Big bro doesn't really like chocolate."

"Huh," said Yosuke, pulling away to look at her. "What does he like?"

She didn't answer, but her intense brown eyes bored unblinking into his face… like he should know already.

He chuckled nervously. "A-all right. Thanks for the, uh, tip."

She smiled impishly at him and then picked up the dog and began to play again.

* * *

Later that evening the two boys were finally alone in Souji's room. Yosuke was sitting at the desk, and Souji was on the couch reading a book.

It wasn't a surprise that Souji had actually made him work on his math homework. What was possibly surprising was how much Yosuke could focus when he knew he'd be rewarded after. Souji promised him a kiss for every problem he got right...

"Ah, Yosuke, you were so close," Souji said, leaning over his shoulder and checking his work on the very last problem in the set.

"Aww, man... Where was I wrong?"

Souji's finger pointed out that he hadn't distributed a number properly, which had thrown off the rest of his answer.

"Can't I get partial credit?" Yosuke asked, looking up at his partner hopefully.

Souji shook his head and stepped away. "You know we won't get any on the real test."

Yosuke looked as disappointed as he could to get Souji to relent, but his partner could be really stubborn sometimes. "Come on..." Yosuke whined when it was obvious he wasn't going to budge.

"I'll tell you what," Souji said. "If you do well on the actual test, then..."

"Then… _what?_ And how well?" Better than Chie was probably doable, but better than Yukiko, not so much.

"Then I'll..." Souji trailed off. Whatever he was going to say apparently embarrassed him greatly, because he stopped and turned his head, shielding his face with his shoulder.

Damn, Yosuke thought. Now he _really_ had to study!

* * *

Done with their homework, they decided to relax with a video game since Souji hadn't yet obtained a new model kit. Yosuke had chosen a racing game because that seemed more likely to keep them excited for... whatever their late-night activities were going to be. A fighting game might be better for that, but Souji was a button-masher on a worse level than Teddie. It was quite annoying.

Souji moved his futon out a bit from the corner of the room so that he could see the TV while sitting on it. Yosuke was on the spare futon placed directly in front of the TV.

Before they started, though, Souji said he was going to get changed. "You brought pajamas this time, right?"

Yosuke glanced at his duffel bag wedged between the spare futon and the model kit shelf. "Uh, yeah." He turned back to the game, controller in his hands, trying to set up the grand prix with the maps he wanted.

"Take them out?" Souji suggested.

"I'll get changed later," Yosuke replied, his eyes still glued to the TV.

"Please take them out."

Scowling at the interruption, Yosuke bent down and rummaged through his duffel bag with his left hand, holding his controller in the other, glad that he'd left it unzipped earlier when he'd taken out his math notebook. He tossed his pajamas behind him on the futon and returned to the game.

"Okay," said Souji. "I'm gonna get changed!"

Yosuke hunched his shoulders and tried to focus on setting up the game and _definitely not_ trying to see his partner's reflection in the TV screen. He heard the soft rustle of fabric behind him, and when he heard a zipper he bit his lower lip hard and tried rather unsuccessfully to keep his mind blank instead of imagining what was happening.

A grunt and a sigh later, Souji shuffled past him and took a seat at the edge of his futon and picked up his controller. "Okay, so I'm, what, the red racer?"

"Souji, what the hell!" Yosuke squeaked.

 _His partner was wearing his pajamas._

Yosuke didn't wear pajamas normally, but when it was cold, boxers and an undershirt just weren't enough. The top was just a plain orange pajama top with long sleeves, and the bottoms were tiger- patterned, orange and black. He had matching slippers at home.

The pajamas didn't quite fit Souji—they didn't quite fit Yosuke, either, and with Souji being just a little bigger in size, the tightness was even more pronounced, and a few inches of his leg could be seen above the ankles.

"You can close your mouth," Souji teased.

"Partner, you, wha..." Yosuke's mental train was derailed and it took just a little longer for it to get back on track. "Wh-what am I going to wear, then?" he demanded.

Souji stretched his legs out in front of his futon and ran his fingers across the stripes. Then he looked up at Yosuke. "Well, you can wear mine again. You did last time." He had that smile on his face, the weird one he used when he thought he was being funny but was worried that he wasn't.

"Only if it's a set you actually wore this time!" Yosuke declared. He then immediately covered his mouth in surprise at his own words.

"Yep," said Souji, ignoring his embarrassment and tossing his set from his futon and onto Yosuke's. "Enjoy."

Yosuke stared at the pajamas in the messy pile right next to him as if mesmerized. He was going to wear Souji's pajamas. Souji's _used_ pajamas. Well, unless Nanako-chan had done the laundry today...

He tentatively touched the top of the pile with his hand as if to test that, but drew back at the sound of Souji's sultry voice. "Don't be shy."

"Dammit, partner, don't say stuff like that!" Yosuke crossed his arms, aggravated.

Souji's shoulders were rolling with suppressed laughter.

Yosuke grabbed the pajamas and headed to the bathroom to get changed. There he discovered that... Souji's pajamas _hadn't_ been washed recently. They smelled distinctly like Souji—a combination of sweat and cat dander and some brand of deodorant that Yosuke wasn't familiar with but wanted to become familiar with—and Yosuke almost decided to use the pajama top as a pillow instead of wearing it so that he could smell it while he slept.

The pajamas were well-worn, too. The top's collar was starting to wear and the material had been stretched out. They felt very loose on his body.

He returned to the room and Souji told him he was looking good. Yosuke ignored the compliment and threw himself onto the spare futon and grabbed the controller. "Are we gonna race or what?" he grumbled. Out of the corner of his eye, though, he could see Souji watching him with that stupid grin...

* * *

They'd passed the first two stages when Yosuke noticed the second player driver was no longer moving. He glanced at Souji and found him leaning back with his eyes closed, mouth hanging open, snoring lightly. The controller was resting on his chest.

"Come on, partner, it's barely 10 o'clock!" Yosuke hoped his voice would wake him up. When it didn't, he decided to stop trying to win the race and instead drive his car right into Souji's and crash it over a barricade. It made him feel a little better.

Then he sighed and turned off the console. He took the controller from Souji—his partner still didn't wake up. He thought of nudging him, but... if he'd fallen asleep he probably needed it. Besides, the team's fearless leader looked so... vulnerable.

Yosuke watched the rise and fall of his partner's breathing for a long moment before trying to resettle him so that he was more comfortable on the futon. He needed to be a little more centered at least so that he wouldn't fall off at some point during the night. Then he pulled the blanket over Souji until he was tucked in nice and tight and sure to stay warm... though he knew from experience that his tiger pajamas would do the trick.

Yosuke looked at his partner's calm, sleeping face. Should he steal a kiss?

What kind of question was that? He kissed Souji lightly on the cheek. "Good night, partner," he whispered.

Souji seemed to rouse. "Love..." he mumbled.

Yosuke froze. "Dude, don't say things like..."

"Top... sic..."

Yosuke almost shoved Souji. There was no way he was asleep!

But Souji was snoring again. Yosuke watched him a closely to make sure he wasn't faking it, but it was soon clear that he was down for the count.

Yosuke sighed. He guessed Souji was really happy about his gift. Was his boyfriend weird or what?

The situation had made Yosuke a little nervous and now he needed to make a trip to the bathroom. He left the room, opening the door as quietly as possible so as not to disturb Souji, though it probably wouldn't wake him even if he slammed it open. Still, they weren't alone in the house. He suspected Dojima didn't stay up too late and had retired already.

He'd just finished using the bathroom when he heard something that sounded suspiciously like a sob coming from downstairs. In the quiet of the house, the sound seemed magnified. With a puzzled frown he stepped downstairs, wincing when one of the steps creaked loudly.

It was coming from Nanako-chan's room. Her door had been left partly open. He paused by the door and peeked inside, but it was too dark to make out anything except the little girl's silhouette in her child-sized futon.

"Big bro..." There were sniffles. "H-help me...!"

Without hesitation Yosuke rushed to her side. "N-Nanako-chan?" He put a hand on her shoulder, wondering if he should shake her awake.

Nanako-chan's eyes fluttered open at the contact. They reflected the faint light coming from the night light in her room. She turned her head to peer up at him. "Big bro?"

She probably couldn't recognize him in the dark. "Ah, umm, it's me, umm... but I'll go get him!" he declared.

He tried to move away, but the girl's hand clutched his arm with surprising strength for a seven-year-old. "Yosuke-nii! Don't go!" She tugged on his arm and he allowed himself to be pulled close to her. He could feel the wetness of tears on her face.

He put his arms around her and then tried to pat her on the head to calm her down. "Nanako- chan... Did you have a nightmare?" he asked.

She nodded against his chest. "Y-yeah... I was scared."

"Well... It's all right. I'm here!" he declared.

She snuggled up against him, much like he'd seen her do with Souji by the kotatsu before. "Yosuke-nii... I dreamed I couldn't breathe. And it was really bright, but everyone was there, and they were worried... And big bro was angry and scared and... And I couldn't breathe, it hurt."

She was either remembering her stay in the hospital, or when they'd rescued her from the TV World... Damn that Namatame!

Yosuke continued to hold her. "It's all right. You're home and safe, Nanako-chan. Big bro is upstairs. Your dad's probably in his room. And I'm... here."

"Mm," she mumbled. "Don't go... Please stay..."

"All right. I'll stay," he promised her.

"Mm, you smell like big bro..."

He felt her body relax, and slowly her breathing became softer until she fell asleep. He tried to pull away, but her arms were around his waist, and she stirred when he tried to pry them off. Well, he'd promised he'd stay with her, so... He tried to make himself comfortable, and her quiet breathing and her heartbeat on his chest soon lulled him into sleep, too.

* * *

The next morning, Souji and Dojima stood next to each other in the doorway to Nanako's room. They both stared in silence for some time.

Dojima glanced at Souji for a second before turning back to the sight of his daughter in Yosuke's arms. "Are you sure I don't have anything to worry about?"

Souji brushed away some of his hair. "She has nightmares, sometimes," he said softly.

There was a significant pause. "I know."

Souji looked at him in surprise.

"You and your friend aren't the only ones who've heard her crying out in the night," Dojima said. His hands clenched and then unclenched. "I found her last week. My back killed me the next day, but... Damn it."

Dojima... had stayed all night in Nanako's room to comfort her? Souji looked at his uncle with new respect.

"You wake them up. Rather not have Hanamura break anything." Dojima turned away to head towards the kitchen, but paused after a single step. "By the way, Souji."

"Yes, uncle?"

"What are you wearing?"

Startled, Souji looked down and realized he still had Yosuke's tiger-patterned pajamas on. "Oh, uh," he said, but Dojima had already walked away. Soon the smell of coffee filtered in from the kitchen.

Alone now, Souji watched his cousin and boyfriend sleep for a long moment. Then he took out his cell phone and snapped a photo of the two. He'd need it soon, when he left Inaba...

* * *

[Author's Note: Thanks Kanjilearner3309 for reminding me to include Teddie after the previous story. Thanks Soma for the pajamas fetish and coming up with the cute title and for many other things too. I wish the "Nanako nightmare comfort" scene was my own idea but it was definitely inspired by a scene in No Beginning, No End by strangestquiet.]


	9. Snowy Memories

[Summary: The Investigation Team finally goes on that ski trip. Souji tries to make memories with everyone. He ends up getting lost in a sudden blizzard with Yosuke...

Author's Note: This chapter is based on the ski trip event in the game (note: the game, not the anime). I tried to work it so that it's not exactly the same, but there are a few lines that are borrowed from it. This is a little different from the previous chapters in that it's written mostly from Souji's perspective.]

* * *

"I-I'm not sure I can do this, S-Senpai!" Rise cried from the top of the bunny slope. She wore a pink winter jacket, and its matching pink ski glasses were resting on her head.

Souji, dressed in somber black with a white scarf, was waiting for her at the bottom of the slope. "Would you like me to show you again?" he called back.

Before she could answer, he was already sidestepping his way up the slope until he was at her side.

"Copy my stance," he said. He moved his legs until his skis were parallel. The top of the slope was relatively flat, so there was no fear of either of them starting to go down unprepared. "You'll push off... and if you need to slow down, you know what to do."

"Y-yeah," she said. "In like this." She tilted her skis inward until their tips were almost touching.

"Now, I want you to—" A sudden whoosh barely a few feet nearby interrupted him. It was a blur in white with black hair—Yukiko, followed shortly by Teddie.

Seeing the two go by so quickly dispirited Rise. "I'll never get this right," she said, voice quavering.

"It's all right," Souji assured her with what he hoped was a disarming smile. "I wouldn't be able to race Teddie, either. And if you don't want to do this, we can return to the lodge. I don't mind."

Rise shook her head. "No, Senpai! I'll learn how to ski and make you proud! Watch!" She settled her ski glasses over her eyes and hunched into a stance like she was going to push off. She trembled, and then... straightened again. "U-umm, Senpai... Could you go first?"

Souji smiled to himself. He didn't mind her hesitation; at least Rise had actually made it to the top of the slope. Kanji and Naoto were still at the bottom.

Besides, this ski trip might be one of the last fun things he was able to do with all of his friends—he was leaving next month, after all. He made it his goal to try and spend time with everyone.

He pushed down the bunny slope, skiing as slowly as he possibly could without stalling so that Rise could observe that it wasn't scary. Once he reached the bottom, he didn't climb back up, instead opting to check up on Kanji and Naoto who were around a dozen feet away.

* * *

"Thought Rise knew how to ski," Kanji commented some hours later.

Souji, Teddie, and Kanji were in the lodge's public bath. It was definitely what they needed after a long day out in the cold. The water was hot, and so was the steam rising from it, clearing their sinuses perhaps more than a hot soup could.

Souji was disappointed that Yosuke hadn't joined them, but his boyfriend was still out there challenging Chie at snowboarding. Well, Yosuke would probably be too embarrassed to go into the public bath with Souji anyway. This wasn't like the Amagi Inn's hot springs; towels weren't allowed in the water.

It was a good chance to hang out with Teddie, at any rate, since the bear had been racing Yukiko pretty much the entire day. And Kanji, too; although the younger boy was much more comfortable with himself than he used to be, Souji felt it was his duty to ensure that he didn't regress.

"She learned a few years ago," Souji explained, "apparently when she was much shorter. Now that she's grown up, it's frightening. Any luck with Naoto?"

"Tch," said Kanji. He didn't elaborate.

"Nao-chan fell on top of him and he almost scored!" said Teddie with an excited grin.

"Don't pull that scoring shit with me! Nothing like that happened at all!" Kanji growled, splashing water in his indignation.

It only made Teddie giggle further and start splashing everywhere until Souji calmed him down.

"Sensei! I know for a fact that you're scoring!" the bear declared.

"I cannot confirm or deny that," Souji said with a sly smile that was as much as proof to the bear, but strangely he didn't follow up on it.

Instead, Teddie lifted his feet up and played with his toes in the water for a moment before asking, "What's it like to score, anyway, Sensei?"

"No one's ever going to answer that, Teddie!" Kanji said, shaking his head.

"I'll tell you, Teddie..." Souji began, ignoring the choking sounds Kanji made. "Scoring is like..."

* * *

That evening, the entire Investigation Team gathered together in the lodge's lounge to enjoy hot drinks, eat snacks, and tell each other ghost stories. Spirits were high, even if there weren't any actual spirits to be had, unlike, perhaps, that night they'd played the King's Game...

Yosuke stood at the head of the table in front of the fireplace and led the discussion. Souji watched him quietly, and maybe his expression was a little moony. It felt like he hadn't seen Yosuke all day... He contented himself with the fact that they had still had another day here to enjoy. He'd have his chance. Besides, he still hadn't spent time with Yukiko or Chie, either, so he'd have to do that, too.

He blinked himself back to awareness and realized with some shame that he hadn't even heard the last ghost story...

"I'm not sure I wanna sleep in this old lodge tonight," Kanji said with a gulp.

"Nonsense," said Naoto. "This lodge has a high reputation. There is nothing to be afraid of."

"S-still," said Chie, "there's something about a house that eats people... Where did you come up with that story, Yukiko?"

"The Amagi Inn wasn't always the Amagi Inn," Yukiko began. "Centuries ago it was—"

"Oh no, don't tell another one!" Chie protested.

"Who's next, anyway?" Yosuke asked. "Chie, I think you're up."

"Uh, all right," the short-haired girl in green said. "One time there was this ancient medallion that was split into two parts, and..."

It soon became clear that instead of a ghost story, she was recounting the plot of one of her favorite kung fu movies.

While the group focused on teasing her about it, Souji took the opportunity to switch drinks with Yosuke. Mm, Yosuke was drinking hot cocoa and there were still a few marshmallows floating in it. They bobbed up against Souji's lips when he drank it.

"Just because a ghost is a minor character doesn't mean it's a ghost story!" Yosuke sounded disgusted. He sighed. "All right, partner. Can you salvage this?"

Souji swirled the cup and watched the marshmallows whirl around at the surface of the cocoa while he gathered his thoughts. "There was a boy who went to sleep and woke up in a very blue room. Sitting across the table from him was a man with a nose so long the boy could almost reach out and touch it..."

Souji further described the mysterious Velvet Room, and though Yosuke complained that there wasn't any plot to his story, his other friends seemed interested.

"And the girl knew nothing of why she was there. She didn't even know her own name, just the name the long-nosed man gave her." Souji paused thoughtfully. "And she still has amnesia to this very day."

He stopped talking and all of his friends were looking at him expectantly. Then Yosuke broke the silence. "That's it? That's the story?"

"I don't know how it ends," Souji admitted.

As a group, everyone groaned. "You can't just end like that!" "That poor girl..." "What was with that nose?"

"S-sorry," Souji said with a helpless shrug.

"I think that's enough for tonight," Yosuke said, "unless Naoto has something to say."

"I have nothing to recount," the young detective replied. "Ghost stories are clearly in the realm of the illogical."

"Thought so. I figured you'd tell a story about how someone thought something was a ghost and it turned out to be that the cat they'd thought went missing was hiding in the attic."

"Oh, I should have used that!" Chie exclaimed. "That sounds like a good one."

"Really? I just made it up right now..." Yosuke said. He picked up the cup in front of him and took a drink and spilled it over his hands when it didn't contain what he expected. "How did my cocoa turn into tea!?"

Souji began to chuckle.

"The greatest ghost story of them all," Rise teased. "Senpai!"

"Partner, that wasn't funny," Yosuke said. "If it was still hot, I could've burned myself!" He wiped his hand with a napkin from the table.

Souji apologized, and Yosuke was mollified. Yosuke did, however, take his cocoa back from Souji's unresisting hands and finished it off himself.

"Yosuke's right, we should call it a night," Chie said. "I've had enough stories—"

"Teddie's turn!" The bear suddenly jumped up from his seat. "Once there was a beautiful lady —"

"I think I'll cut you off there, Ted," said Yosuke. "No one wants to hear you make up a story about how you scored. Especially when you don't know what it means."

"I do too know what it's like to score!" Teddie proclaimed, his chest puffing out. "Sensei told me!"

"Partner, you didn't!" Yosuke covered his face in his hands.

"Oh?" said Rise, leaning forward across the table. "This I have to hear."

"There's no way," Chie whispered, her hand over her mouth.

Souji smiled enigmatically. "You can tell them, Teddie. They already know."

"Scoring is like eating a Topsicle!"

Yosuke groaned. "Really...?"

"That can be taken in so many ways, Senpai," Rise said, raising her thin eyebrows.

"There's more," said Souji. "Go on, Teddie."

Teddie bounced up and down with excitement. "And then finding out it's your favorite flavor!"

"What the hell..." said Yosuke. "That doesn't even make sense, partner!"

Rise and Yukiko were laughing together, and Chie looked like she couldn't decide between joining them or being mortified. Naoto's face was carefully blank, and Kanji was frowning.

"Topsicles are good," Kanji admitted. "But I dunno if I'd go that far..."

"It was clearly a joke at Teddie's expense," Naoto said. "However, it is as good an explanation as any until Teddie matures."

" _If_ he matures," Yosuke muttered. "That's a big 'if.'"

"My favorite flavor is lime!" Teddie declared as if that mattered at all.

"Note to self: never give Ted a lime Topsicle." Yosuke shook his head. "Sometimes I wonder about you, partner... Anyway, it's getting late. If we wanna hit the slopes early tomorrow, we ought to get some shut eye."

Yosuke made to stand, but Souji grabbed his arm and pulled him onto the couch. "Stay back," Souji requested in a whisper so that only he could hear, "until the others leave."

The girls retired together as a group, and Kanji escorted Teddie away to the room while unsuccessfully trying to explain that Topsicles were not part of the process at all.

Alone now, Souji kissed Yosuke on the cheek. "Come on, partner!" Yosuke protested. "You know Teddie'll be back any minute for more snacks!"

"I've been wanting to kiss you all night," Souji whispered, his voice husky. "All day, even! That's why I switched our drinks..."

"I'm sorry to tell you, partner, but I don't think we're going to get any alone time on this trip. Kanji and Teddie are staying in the same room. And you know if we take too long to get there, they'll be wondering what we're doing!"

Souji almost told him to let them wonder, but he'd already done enough to ruin Teddie's innocence today. They really didn't need to be caught by the bear in any sort of intimate moment.

"I'm not happy about it either," Yosuke confessed, a tinge of pink to his cheeks. When Souji continued to look disappointed, Yosuke gave in and kissed him on the mouth. "That'll have to do for now, okay?"

Souji sighed and released him. "All right. Let's get some sleep."

Their room was similar in style to the one they'd had at the Amagi Inn after the Culture Festival. There were four floor futons lined up next to each other, and there was a TV in the corner and a small tea table which held their now-cold drinks. They'd already settled their sleeping arrangements earlier. To maintain their reputation, Souji and Yosuke were on opposite ends of the room. Teddie was next to Souji, and Kanji was at the bear's other side, between him and Yosuke.

Despite not being next to Yosuke, Souji was content with the arrangement. It proved that Yosuke had grown up a lot, since he was completely okay with sleeping next to Kanji now. It made Souji very proud...

And fortunately, unlike the Amagi Inn trip, Yosuke didn't make any incredibly stupid plans to try and raid the girls' room. Nope, Yosuke didn't have any girls on his mind anymore, Souji thought to himself with a smile as he drifted off to a dreamless sleep. Just his partner, hopefully...

* * *

They were outside the lodge the next morning. A riot nearly broke out when Naoto innocently commented that the point of the ski trip was to spend time with Souji since he was leaving Inaba next month. Spending time with everyone had been Souji's plan, but it relied on his friends being unaware of it!

"You're right...!" Kanji said, eyes bulging. "I want to make memories with Senpai, too!"

As the others murmured their agreement and began to crowd around him, Souji gripped his ski poles more tightly and quietly began to panic. Were they going to make him choose between them all?

Where was his day planner when he needed it!?

"Why don't we let Senpai decide for himself?" Rise said. "Be honest!"

He wasn't able to stop his eyes from widening, like a deer facing an eighteen-wheeler. Or surrounded by a wolf pack...

"Wait a sec, that's not fair," Yosuke spoke up. "You should all go together, you know?"

Naoto agreed, and Rise followed suit by adding, "Well, he probably would have chosen you anyway, Yosuke-senpai."

"No, actually," Yosuke protested. "I'm snowboarding. Skiing is for chumps! Right, Chie?"

"Uh, yeah!" Chie answered. She turned her snowboard around. "What, you wanna rematch, Yosuke?"

"You're on!"

Souji heaved a small sigh of relief at his best friend's timely intervention. In the end, he spent most of the day with Rise, Kanji, and Naoto again, much like the previous day. Both of the girls finally braved the bunny slope, and the two boys enjoyed seeing them tackle it again and again, though they never became confident enough to move up to an intermediate slope. Still, it felt like progress had been made...

* * *

Souji looked up at the sky from the lower valley. It was getting late. This would have to be his last run. He'd just gone down the mountain with Yukiko and Teddie. Before that he'd gone with Chie. He'd spent some time with everyone... except his boyfriend. He tried to find the boy with his silly camouflage pants and the red jacket that spelled 'Jiraiya' incorrectly and soon spotted him by the lodge, arguing with Chie over who was faster on the slopes.

"I won fair and square!" Chie shouted. "You said best three out of five! And I won three!"

"That last run doesn't count!" Yosuke claimed, crossing his arms.

"It does too!"

"Ted ran into me! How is that fair? You bribed him with Topsicles, didn't you? I see how it is!"

"You make me so angry sometimes!" Chie growled. "But if we don't count that run, then we're tied! I'm not in the mood for another rematch!"

"Why don't I stand in for you?" Souji suggested, stepping perpendicular to them to join the conversation. "I'll go down the mountain with Yosuke, and if I win, Chie wins, and Yosuke, if you win, then you win."

"Partner..." Yosuke said. "I don't think that's fair. You're on skis. They're faster."

"Oh..." said Souji, looking sad. "But I don't know how to snowboard."

"You know, it doesn't really matter that much," Chie said, eyeing the two boys thoughtfully. "All I want right now is some hot cocoa!" She went inside the lodge and they felt a small burst of heat from inside when she opened the door.

"Can we go down the slopes one last time together?" Souji asked.

"Yeah. I'm sorry I didn't do anything with you until now," Yosuke said, scratching his head through the hood of his jacket. "I knew everyone wanted to hang out with you. As long as you had fun, that's all that matters."

Souji assured him that he did. He was pretty sure he'd managed once again to please everyone. "And now it's your turn."

"Saved the best for last, huh?" Yosuke chuckled.

While they rode the ski lift together, Yosuke told him about how he totally won fair and square over Chie in their little snowboarding competition. Souji didn't comment, just smiled in that non- confrontational, 'of course you're right' way of his.

And then they were at the top of the slope. From here, Souji could see all the way across the valley below. The lodge was just a small dot at the bottom of the mountain. He'd already taken in the view before, but this would be his last time up here, so it was worth doing again.

Especially since Yosuke was with him.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Souji commented. Snow blanketed the mountain like a field of white. Leafless trees with spidery, icicle-laden branches poked out on either side of the main route down, which was marked out by bright orange flags.

"Definitely won't see this in the city," Yosuke agreed. "So... Did you make any memories?"

Souji nodded. "I think so."

"Remember _this,_ " Yosuke said. "I'm gonna beat you down the mountain!" In an instant, he kicked off his snowboard and went careening down the slope.

"But skis are faster—" Souji stopped and sighed because he was protesting to air. He put on his ski goggles and then set out to prove it.

It didn't take very long for him to overtake Yosuke; the boy hadn't had much of a lead, anyway, and you couldn't fight physics. Still, Yosuke sometimes cut corners instead of following the established path when it curved, so at times they seemed somewhat even. Souji would keep it to himself later, but he slowed down a bit just for his friend to keep up.

Souji pulled up short in the valley, the angle suddenly not steep enough to continue skiing. He frowned and looked around, because the lodge was nowhere in sight. They'd definitely gone down main route which would lead them there at the end. He was certain he hadn't missed any of the path flags...

Yosuke stopped a few feet away from him and kicked up his board. "Well, that's that. Chie wins." He sounded happy, anyway—probably still pumped up on adrenaline from the snowboarding. "It's getting dark out, though. Man, will you look at those clouds? Hey, which way's the lodge?"

"I... don't... know..." Souji admitted slowly.

"Uh, partner? I was following you."

"Yeah, you were following me," Souji replied with a smirk. He was allowed to crow a little bit, right?

Yosuke shot him an annoyed look before worry overcame him. "Seriously, where's the lodge?"

Souji didn't know. He looked at his right hand, and then his left hand. The right hand had less snow, so he went in that direction after taking off his skis and shouldering them.

There was a sort of a path between a growth of trees, and they made some progress along it when the storm hit them. The sudden blizzard blew flurries of snow right into their faces. The wind was chilly and blasted through their jackets as if they weren't even wearing them. Soon it was hard to see through the sheer torrent of snow coming down.

Somehow, the storm felt familiar to Souji, though he couldn't answer why even to save his life. He'd never been in a blizzard before, as far as he could remember...

"S-Souji...? Are you there?"

He could hardly hear Yosuke over the howl of the wind. He glanced back and saw his friend trudging forward. Souji probably only appeared as an unidentifiable shape to him, maybe even a tree. He probably should have worn a brighter color instead of black. He grabbed Yosuke's gloved hand and pulled the boy along with him.

"A-are we th-there yet?" Yosuke asked. He tried to laugh but it sounded miserable more than anything.

"We'll find it," Souji promised him.

"Y-you'll like it if I t-turn into a T-topsicle, right?"

"You're being silly," Souji told him sternly.

They continued in silence for a moment and then Yosuke said, "I can't f-feel my legs."

Souji couldn't feel the cold anymore, and that was probably a bad sign. He didn't know what to do, and he hated that. He tugged Yosuke's arm and told him they couldn't stop moving. Yosuke said he might be about to collapse, and Souji knew he didn't have the strength to carry him if he did.

Fortunately, he didn't have to try. He spied a cabin not too far away. Upon seeing it, Yosuke seemed to regain some energy, and they shuffled towards it together.

No one answered their knock, and when Yosuke tried the door, they found it wasn't locked. They entered without hesitation and closed the door firmly shut behind them. They dropped their skis and snowboard right there at the threshold without any ceremony.

"This place is old," Yosuke said after their eyes had adjusted to the darkness. "It doesn't have electricity."

It seemed to be an abandoned cabin. The air smelled musty and the view out of the window was blocked by dust on the inside and frost on the outside. The snow shovels leaning against the wall were gathering cobwebs. A bunch of cardboard boxes were stacked in one corner and an old lantern lacking fuel hung near them.

It was definitely warmer here than outside due to the absence of wind, but it was still very cold. Souji wasn't sure how safe it would be to fall asleep here, though his exhaustion from their long trek through the snow begged him to try.

"Hey, there's a hearth!" Yosuke discovered. "Maybe we can light a fire!"

They scrounged around the cabin and found some wood and matches and were able to get a very small fire going in the cabin's firepit. There wasn't much wood and it took half the matches just to get it going...

Souji took off his scarf and jacket and laid them as close to the fire as he could to get them to dry out. He had Yosuke do the same, and then they gathered at the fire and held their hands out to it to warm them.

"Fire is a lot hotter in my memory," Yosuke muttered. "This isn't going to last very long, is it?"

Souji, staring at the dancing flames as they crackled and burned, didn't answer.

"This place feels like it's been abandoned... Do you think the others will get a search party out for us? What if we're stuck here until the storm ends? How long do blizzards last, anyway...?" Yosuke trailed off, maybe because Souji had nothing to say.

The fire began to dim along with their spirits.

"We're going to die here, aren't we?" Yosuke whispered.

Souji jerked his head back to reality and blinked at his friend. He realized by the quavering quality in his voice and the way his body was trembling that Yosuke was about to cry.

"We're going to die," Yosuke repeated, "and it's my fault because I wanted to go on a stupid ski trip with you. And now we're gonna d-die together. Dammit... I don't want to die!"

"Yosuke!"

Yosuke bowed his head and sniffled. The tears running down his face reflected the last bit of firelight.

Souji scooted behind his friend and wrapped his arms around him to try to soothe him. "We're not going to die."

Yosuke's body relaxed a little in his embrace. "We defeated that giant eyeball, but our biggest challenge yet is h-hypothermia... Dammit..." He sniffled again and rubbed his raw nose. "Imagine the headlines when they find us. Two Boys Found Frozen In Each Other's Arms."

"It won't come to that," Souji assured him. "Someone will notice we're missing and send help."

"...What if they think we're messing around, and that's why we're missing? They won't send help, then."

"Why? Because they're afraid of catching us?" Souji pressed his hands into Yosuke's belly and was mildly annoyed at how their many layers of clothing limited his ability to be affectionate.

"Well, I don't want to die a vir—what am I saying?"

"I don't think we should take off our clothes," Souji murmured, but he kept his chin on Yosuke's shoulder so that his breath would heat the boy's neck.

They watched the fire together for a few minutes, Souji's close presence keeping Yosuke calm.

"Hey, Souji...?" Yosuke's head leaned back to try and look at him.

"Yeah?"

"I wanted to tell you..." He paused and turned his head away. "Thanks. For giving me a chance."

Souji didn't answer with words, just made a positive sound against Yosuke's neck.

"Even if it has to end like this." Yosuke sighed.

"We're not going to die," Souji told him again. "When the fire goes out, we'll move to the corner of the room, huddle together, and use our jackets as a blanket, all right?"

"Y-yeah..." Yosuke's voice was shaky again, so Souji kissed his neck softly before pulling away. "S-Souji?" he whimpered.

"Stay here," Souji told him as he stood up. "Stay by the fire." They hadn't finished exploring the tiny cabin, and he wanted to do it before the weak light from the fire was gone. "I'm going to clear a corner, okay?"

Souji moved a chair and wondered if he could break it apart for firewood, but it turned out to be made of metal. As he pushed a heavy cardboard box out of the way, he considered that he could break the box down and then burn it. Unfortunately, it was full of mechanical equipment. He wouldn't have enough time to take everything out before the fire went out—

The fire went out.

"Souji...!"

"Bring the jackets and come over here," Souji directed softly.

Yosuke obediently brought them over once his eyes adjusted to the lack of light. Souji sat down in the corner and patted the spot next to him, and Yosuke joined him. Souji took the scarf from him and tied it around both of their necks, and Yosuke draped the jackets over them. They were still a little warm from the fire.

Souji shifted his body so that his arm was around Yosuke's back. The boy followed his lead and leaned into him. It reminded Souji of the time they'd sat together just like this on the floodplains...

"Yosuke," Souji said quietly. "You didn't have to thank me. I know what I want."

"Right now I just want to be warm," Yosuke muttered. He resettled the jacket and drew his legs in closer under it.

"I want you to know that I have no regrets," Souji went on.

"Regrets?" Yosuke protested. "I thought you said we weren't going to die..."

"Hear me out," Souji said. "We saved Yukiko, and Kanji, and Rise, and Naoto. We caught the killer. We saved Nanako-chan. These are things no one else could do."

"Yeah... We brought peace to our sleepy little town..."

"And you were by my side the whole time," he whispered right into Yosuke's ear. "Every step of the way."

Yosuke turned his head away. "S-so was Chie!"

"Yes, so was Chie," Souji agreed. He took his hand out from under the warm jacket just to turn Yosuke's head back to face him. "But I never wanted to kiss Chie. So... when the two of us became more than friends... I was really, really happy." His eyes were half-closed as he watched Yosuke, and he squeezed the boy's side. "I'm still really, really happy..."

Yosuke dropped his gaze. He found Souji's gloved hand under the jacket and held it. "Y-you know, you make me feel like the luckiest guy in the world. I'm not going to lie. It's been... it's been weird, having a boyfriend. I guess it'd be the same if I had a girlfriend, but... I can't understand it, sometimes. When you're not with me, I wonder what you're doing, I wonder if you're thinking about me, if you're wishing I was there..." He paused. "Ugh, this sounds so lame..."

"It's not lame..." Souji whispered. "Keep going..."

"I don't know what else to say. Except... that I want to be with you more, and... that I'm glad I'm not alone right now."

"Me too." Souji squeezed his hand. "We'll make every day count, okay?"

Yosuke nodded, and when Souji moved in for a kiss, he didn't resist at all. He did, however, complain that it was too cold for this when Souji pulled away. "Isn't my nose like ice? Yours sure is..."

"Want me to kiss that, too?" Souji teased.

"No, just my lips again," he replied. The boy eagerly obliged, and they spent some time comforting each other in that manner.

Then a light flashed on, interrupting the moment. Souji frowned at the shadows that were now cast on the wall behind them.

"A rescue team!?" Yosuke exclaimed.

As their eyes adjusted, they realized the light came from a television that was standing in another corner of the cabin. "I thought there was no electricity," Souji murmured.

"I wonder why it turned on. Let's check it out." Yosuke carefully draped his jacket over the front of his body so that he could carry it with him and then stood up.

Souji joined him and together they stared at the rather old-fashioned television. It had a rabbit-ears style antenna and the channel changer was a knob on the front.

"You don't suppose..." Yosuke began and trailed off.

"The TV World has never been very cold," Souji remarked.

"We don't know where it would take us. Could be a Shadow's den..."

"And we don't have our weapons, but..."

"It's worth the risk," Yosuke finished. "Agreed?" Souji nodded, and Yosuke reached out to touch the screen. As he made contact, suddenly a feminine hand shot out of it, grabbed his arm, and pulled him the rest of the way in. He didn't even have a chance to scream.

Souji blinked at where his vanished friend had been a second ago and followed in after without hesitation.

* * *

They were in a forest. The ground was blanketed with a light dusting of snow, but a weak sun was shining and the temperature wasn't too cold. It was warmer than the cabin had been.

"Wha... Where are we, partner? Whoa, what the hell is that!?"

Souji glanced at Yosuke, who was face-to-face with a large, featureless haniwa. In fact, there were several more of the terracotta statues around them, almost as many as the trees.

Yosuke rapped his fingers against the statue, and the sound echoed since it was hollow. "Man, for a moment I thought it was a Shadow!"

"I did not wish to interrupt, but..." said a voice behind them. Yosuke jumped and grabbed Souji's arm.

Souji himself stared and opened his mouth at the elegant woman walking towards them. "M- Margaret?"

"We have business to attend to," the Velvet Room attendant finished, a small smile that could actually be a smirk on her face. She wore the same clothes as always—blue coat and black stockings— and the cold didn't seem to be affecting her at all.

"She's beautiful... Uh, who is she?" Yosuke whispered. "You know her?"

Souji nodded. "She looks dangerous, but she's an ally."

The mature woman raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Indeed. My name is Margaret, and I am a helper on his journey. I am here to guide you... Do you remember?" She addressed the question at Souji.

"You found Marie?" Souji stepped forward in his enthusiasm, breaking away from Yosuke's grip.

Margaret turned to the entrance to the shrine near them and proceeded to explain that Marie had recovered her memories of who she was... and that she now desired to be forgotten.

"Are we talking about the same Marie... Marie-chan?" Yosuke asked. "I knew she wasn't a student, but... she's from this world? That's hard to take in."

"We'll save her," Souji announced.

"Oh, there's no doubt about that, partner!" Yosuke winked at him. "But, uh... just the two of us...?"

Margaret smiled more with her eyes than anything. "In fact, the others have just arrived. One moment."

She stepped before the old TV standing in the middle of the snow. She pushed her hand through its screen, and when she drew back, the rest of the Investigation Team suddenly tumbled through it in a clash of limbs and mixture of cries, protests, and curses.

"Wh-where are we—you two!" Chie cried. She was the first to get to her feet. "We were so worried! Whoa, I think she's the one who grabbed me...!"

Margaret turned to Souji. "I'll leave you to explain to the rest..."

"Y-yeah," said Souji. "Do you all remember that story I told you last night...? It seems the girl just recovered her memories and she needs our help."

"That story was real? Senpai..." Rise murmured.

"Marie needs us," Souji continued, his face a mask of determination. "Let's make a plan..."

That Marie didn't want to be found was worrisome, but truth be told, Souji looked forward to leading the rescue mission. It would give him one more opportunity to make memories with his friends.


	10. Every Moment's Enough

[Summary: It's the end of the school year, and time seems to be passing far too fast for Yosuke. Before he knows it, the big day is here.]

* * *

"All right," said Yosuke, peering through the window of the old-fashioned instant camera that was set up on a tripod. "Let's do this!"

His friends on the Investigation Team were crowded together in front of the Inaba overlook's railing. It was the perfect backdrop for a group picture: a clear blue sky, the sun beaming down from high above, a couple of trees at the edges for scenery.

"Ted," he said, motioning his hand above the camera, "move a little closer to Naoto— _not that close!_ I swear—all right, that's good. No, Kanji, you gotta stay in the back. You're too tall! Not that far back, you're out of the picture now. Stopstopstop. Perfect! Now on the count of three..."

He pressed a button on the camera and rushed to join the group, barely managing not to trip over Teddie, who was having trouble staying still long enough for even this one single picture, and stopped next to Souji, who sent him the briefest of amused looks before turning back to the camera.

"One!" Yosuke announced. He winked right as the camera emitted a sound indicating it had taken the picture.

Now that the picture-taking was over, the group spread apart to put more comfortable space between each member. Yosuke noticed Naoto heading for the camera and decided to let her take care of it. She'd been excited about the old thing ever since she saw it, but Dojima-san had firmly told them all that he wanted it back in one working piece. Hearing that, Naoto had reluctantly been forced to put away her screwdriver.

Naoto handed the photograph it had printed out to Rise, who fanned it in the air until the picture showed up. "Wow, Yosuke-senpai!" the idol said, inspecting it. "You got it right the first time. We won't have to take another."

"Why do you sound so surprised?" he protested.

"I was expecting Teddie to get in the way," Kanji admitted. "Hog the picture, y'know?" The bear protested with a 'Hey! So rude!'

"I was expecting Yosuke to put bunny ears on me!" Chie followed up.

"Oh, Yosuke-senpai couldn't do that," Rise remarked, "because his hand isn't free."

Yosuke didn't comment as everyone in the group looked at him and noticed how Souji was holding his left hand. In fact, Souji now hugged the trapped hand to his chest at the sudden attention.

"Oh, Senpai~" Rise put her hands together in front of her and released an over-exaggerated sigh.

"Partners to the end, huh?" Chie teased.

"Oh, I know!" Yukiko announced with excitement. "Take his other hand, Souji-kun! And then we'll take another picture."

"What, while they gaze deeply into each other's eyes?" Chie's grin was diabolical, and Yukiko nodded.

"That's too much, even for me," Yosuke complained, but Souji was definitely trying to grab his other hand to make it happen. "Come on, partner, I'm not letting them have any blackmail!"

Souji let him go with a sigh so overdone that it rivaled Rise's. Yosuke rolled his eyes and rubbed the back of his neck with the hand that was still warm from being held.

Rise took her phone out and took a picture of the photograph with it. She pressed a few buttons on the phone. "There... it's sent! And Senpai gets the hard copy." She handed the photograph to Souji, who looked at it for a moment before tucking it safely away in his day planner.

"I suppose we could take other pictures," Yosuke mused. Dojima-san hadn't said he needed the camera back with any film in it, after all.

"Oh, oh!" Teddie began to dance around. "Me-me-me! I want everyone to have a picture of me! All the pretty ladies, so they'll always have moi with them~"

"...I'd probably burn it," Yukiko said.

Teddie flinched dramatically. "Oh, my heart!"

"Naoto!" Kanji called. "There's a kingfisher on the rail. M-maybe you could take a picture?"

"Ah, that might be a problem," Naoto replied, barely glancing up from what she was doing with the camera. "It will most likely be gone by the time I've reattached the primary lens."

"That answers that," Yosuke said. "No more pictures."

"That's what phones are for, Yosuke-senpai!" Rise declared. "Honestly, I wondered why Dojima-san gave us that old thing to use, anyway."

"It has the instant-gratification thing going for it," Chie pointed out. "Since it prints out the pictures for us."

"It is not an 'old thing,'" Naoto murmured. She had one eye closed while she looked through some opening in the camera. "There are plenty of uses for a camera like this, even today. For one, it provides an aesthetic that newer cameras simply can't."

"Sure, if you like grunge," Rise said. "But you can do a lot of that with photo editing now."

Naoto began to elaborate on her opinion, but then gave up to focus on her work. A few moments later, she put her screwdriver away and handed the camera to Souji. "There," she said. "Your uncle complained about a problem with the flash button not responding. I was able to fix it."

Before Souji could reply, Rise was calling for his attention. "Senpai~ Is everything set for tomorrow?"

Souji paused for a second, looking down at the camera in his hands, then nodded at her.

"Speaking of tomorrow, partner," Yosuke said, "you probably ought to get home. We've got a lot of cooking ahead of us."

"'We'?" Rise asked. "You're going to help Senpai?"

"Well, yeah," Yosuke replied. "Cooking for all of us is a big order. Maybe I can't help with the actual cooking, but at least I can be moral support."

"More like a distraction," Chie commented. "I can see it now. They're still in the kitchen past midnight because they're too busy kissing instead of cooking."

"Which is why we should be going _now,_ " Yosuke said, knowing full well that his face was burning up despite all the self-control he was exerting on it not to. He picked up the tripod and looked at Souji, who nodded. After a round of goodbyes, they headed on their way.

* * *

"Are you all right?" Yosuke asked Souji during the walk back to the Dojima Residence. It was just the two of them on the empty street. "You've been quiet all day. Well, quieter than normal, that is. About as quiet as you used to be when you first came here."

As if to prove that, Souji didn't answer the question at all. Yosuke glanced sidelong at him, and then wished he wasn't carrying the bulky tripod, because his boyfriend definitely looked like he needed some hand-holding right now.

"Partner?" Yosuke prompted.

Souji lifted his head, not quite meeting Yosuke's eyes. "Y-yeah, I just..." he began, his voice hoarse from lack of use. He cleared his throat before continuing. "I just didn't have any words to say."

"...You're thinking too hard. I can tell."

Souji looked away, apparently out of words again.

They walked in silence for a minute or two. Yosuke noticed it was starting to get dark out. Already? Their group photo hadn't taken that long. He was supposed to have a whole afternoon left to spend with Souji.

Well, on the bright side, he still had the entire night with him. One more sleepover. What number was it now? He had kind of lost count.

"Wh-when..." Souji began, breaking the unnatural quiet.

Yosuke glanced at him as he slowed in his steps. "Yeah?"

Souji cleared his throat again, not that it helped very much because his voice was always a bit dry. "When do you work next, Yosuke?"

"Oh, don't worry about that," Yosuke answered, freeing a hand from the tripod for a moment to wave at him. "I got this whole first week of spring break off. I'm totally free. We could hang out every day, if you want."

"Of course I want, silly," Souji said, meeting his eyes now with the soft expression that made Yosuke always want to use the bathroom. "But you really took that much time off just for me?"

"Of course I did," Yosuke countered, although his brow furrowed a bit while he thought about it. He hadn't actually taken the time off for Souji. He'd put in the time off request a long time ago. So long ago, it was before they were dating. But looking back, maybe even back then he'd wanted to spend that time with Souji.

"That's..." Souji said slowly. "Well, umm... Thank you."

Yosuke blinked at him. His cheeks were all pink, and... Why was he so flustered about something so simple? It wasn't like him. "Geez, you can be such a dork sometimes..."

"But, umm... Do you think..." Souji went on, ignoring his comment. "Do you think you could help me pack on Monday?"

"A-ah..." Yosuke stalled, almost tripping in mid-step. Anything that reminded him of, well... the end... It was something he didn't want to think about.

At the same time, he'd jump on any opportunity to spend more time with his best friend before that end.

"Sure," he answered, hoping he actually sounded sure.

"Then it's a date!" Souji announced, and it was so hammy that Yosuke had to chuckle and shake his head. He'd probably said it like that just to cheer him up.

Though it wasn't as if tonight wasn't a date of its own. Well, as much of a date as the two boys could have with a seven-year-old present.

"Big bro, big bro! And Yosuke-nii!" Nanako exclaimed, running to the door when the two entered the Dojima Residence. She hugged Souji's legs, and after Yosuke set the tripod against the wall, she hugged him in turn, too.

"How was your last day of school, Nanako-chan?" Yosuke asked politely.

The little girl beamed up at him. "My homeroom teacher gave everyone a goodbye letter, and after school I went with Miwa-chan and we played with jump ropes. And then Takeyoshi-kun came by and Miwa-chan tripped."

"Uh, is she okay?"

"Yep!"

"Well, that's good—what's the matter, partner?"

After setting the camera down on the kitchen table, Souji had opened his day planner. Now he was frowning down at the photograph they'd taken earlier in the day. "We... we should've taken the picture with Nanako..."

Nanako tugged on his shirt until he brought the picture down to her height so she could see it. "Oh, it's big bro and big bro's friends."

Yosuke picked up the camera and held it up to his face. "We'll take a picture of you two right now, how's that? Let's see... Let's have you sit behind the kotatsu together. That'll be cute."

Nanako tugged on Souji's hand, and together they went to the kotatsu and posed for the picture. The little girl hugged her older cousin's arm, smiling so hard that her eyes were shut. Souji smiled, too, mostly at her enthusiasm. When the picture came out of the camera, Yosuke handed it to Nanako, and she aired it out with obvious delight.

"Yay, I'm gonna hang it on the wall!" she declared, running to her room.

While she was away, Souji asked Yosuke to come sit by him and take another picture. "Set it on a timer and..."

"Actually, it's out of film," Yosuke said. "It really is! There's a little light right here, see." He turned the camera's backside towards his partner as proof. "We'll take a picture with our phones later, okay? We gotta get that sushi made soon, or else we really will be in the kitchen 'til midnight."

"Check the fridge," Souji murmured. He was tracing patterns on the kotatsu's tabletop. Upon closer inspection, Yosuke recognized that they were hearts. He rolled his eyes, an action totally unnoticed by his preoccupied partner, and went to the kitchen and opened the fridge.

Inside he found several packs of already-made sushi. It was enough to feed the Investigation Team and then some. "Wha... when did you...?"

"I made it all last night," his friend admitted. "I had some free time and extra Inaba trout on hand, so..."

Yosuke hid his disappointment. He'd wanted to watch Souji work in the kitchen one last time. At the same time, though, he didn't really want to be around the guy when he was preparing fish, so he wasn't going to complain.

"We can still do what Chie suggested." Souji's voice came from right behind him. Yosuke jumped, slamming the refrigerator door shut in the process. He hadn't heard his friend move!

And before he knew it, Souji was kissing him softly on the lips. Yosuke kissed back, his eyes closing halfway. Today there wasn't a flavor to the other boy's lips, no, actually there was a slightly metallic tang, he'd been chewing on his lower lip too much recently, and Yosuke knew why, it was the same reason he'd been so quiet earlier today...

Which reminded Yosuke of something that had been on his mind for a while now. Something that he'd been wanting to say before... before it was too late and his partner was miles away. They were alone now, and holding each other, and it was the perfect opportunity, so... He stopped kissing to look into his boyfriend's eyes. "Say, Souji, umm, I..."

There was a giggle from behind him. He pulled a few inches away from the other boy instinctively in embarrassment. Nanako was watching them from the hallway, her eyes dancing with delight at having caught them in a precious moment.

"N-Nanako-chan," he stuttered.

"It's okay," she said. "I think you're really cute!"

"Thank you, Nanako," Souji said, pulling Yosuke back into a hug. It didn't embarrass him to be affectionate in front of her. Probably he just liked seeing Yosuke's face change colors.

They had takeout for dinner because Yosuke wouldn't let Souji cook after learning how he'd spent all that time making the sushi platters on his own. He made Souji choose what they were going to order because he'd always wanted to take Souji out to a restaurant on an actual date. With one thing or another, it had never happened; this would have to be good enough for now.

The rest of the evening was spent playing board games with Nanako until it was her bedtime. After Souji tucked the girl into bed and told her goodnight and that he loved her, he and Yosuke relocated to his room to watch a movie together.

Yosuke put a DVD that he'd brought from home into the player. It was an action movie, the first in a series that he really liked. He was hoping to share the love with his partner.

He sat down next to Souji on the couch. Within just a few seconds, the other boy was cuddling up next to him, his nose nuzzling against his neck. "Isn't this nice, Yosuke?"

"You're so gay," Yosuke told him. And then he clamped his hand over his mouth, because _holy cow,_ that was definitely not what he'd wanted to say.

"Yeah, I am," Souji replied without any shame, not pausing a single moment in rubbing against his neck. "You just now noticed?"

Yosuke let out a small chuckle. "S-so much for that sliding scale, huh?"

"I did say that some people are firmly on either end," Souji murmured. "Does it bother you?"

"If it did, I wouldn't be letting you do that," Yosuke pointed out, wriggling a little because it was starting to tickle. And then Souji started kissing his neck instead and that made him squirm even more...

It didn't bother him, and they were once again alone. He could... he could tell Souji now, tell him what he'd tried to say earlier.

But as Souji began to lightly nibble his skin, he decided it really wasn't the best time. "Ah, p-partner, d-don't we have a movie to watch?" he whimpered.

"I, ah, I'm not all that interested in the movie," Souji murmured, his breath warm against Yosuke's neck.

"I-it's my favorite," he protested further. "Come on, we have all night. It's not that long, really."

The gray-haired boy pulled away with a sigh. He reached over to the work table to grab the remote and soon enough the movie was playing. He snuggled up next to Yosuke again and found his hand to hold, but kept his eyes on the TV screen instead of doing anything more, well, personal. Even so, it wasn't long before he was resting his head on Yosuke's shoulder.

Yosuke didn't pay much attention to the movie, despite it being his favorite. He hadn't seen it in a long time, actually, and now that he thought about it, it wasn't 'his movie' anymore. He'd changed over the last year—heck, just over the last three months—and maybe he thought about things differently now. The hero wasn't all that heroic, unlike Souji or any of his IT friends, really, and the love interest, despite her beauty, was kind of annoying and unhelpful. She wouldn't have been on their team, that was for sure.

So he spent the movie focused on the boy next to him, trying to commit everything he could to memory. The warmth of his skin, the softness of his breath, the careful pressure he applied when toying with his fingers...

And before Yosuke knew it, the credits were rolling. What, it was over already? He didn't remember the movie being quite that short, but he glanced at the time on the DVD player and it was definitely late enough.

He wondered what Souji had thought of the movie. Come to think of it, the guy hadn't said much during it. Usually he'd ask some questions, or laugh sometimes at the jokes, but...

He tried to free the hand Souji was holding and it came away without resistance. He frowned, then turned his head just enough to look at his partner and... seriously?

Souji had fallen asleep. During an action movie.

Yosuke sighed in vague frustration. He was doomed never to spend a real night with his partner. There was so much he'd wanted to do, and so much more to say and talk about...

Well, I can at least do this, he thought with another sigh. He took out his phone and snapped a picture of the two of them together.

* * *

The next day was already here. Yosuke hardly remembered waking up or getting changed, but here he was, carrying a cooler full of drinks and following Souji to the flood plain, where all their friends were gathered at the picnic table.

It wasn't going to be their last get-together. There were still a couple of days left, after all. But it was the last time they'd experience Souji's cooking, which was why everyone had accepted his offer to feed them all, despite everyone thinking that they should be treating him instead.

And today Souji had recovered his voice, or at least enough of it to warn them that it was his first time making sushi. "But I guarantee that the fish is local and fresh," he said. "I caught it myself."

"You can fish, too, Senpai?" said Kanji. "You're a man of many talents."

"I wouldn't say I'm talented at it," Souji protested. "It mostly requires patience. But I like it. It's relaxing."

"Y-yeah, that's why I like knitting," Kanji admitted. "Plus when you're done, you get something that someone can use. I s'pose that's how you fed all those cats."

"I also like skinny dipping," Souji went on.

Yosuke spat out his soda, fortunately only onto his own plate of sushi. "Wha... Nobody asked that, partner!"

"I think about that when I'm fishing," Souji explained, as if it was a perfectly normal segue from the topic. "How easy it would be to strip off and jump in the water and have a swim. Especially when it's hot out."

"W-wow, Senpai," Rise said weakly. "Guess we should've volunteered whenever you asked if anyone wanted to go fishing with you."

"I didn't know that it was a euphemism either," Chie said. She shook her head and patted Yukiko's back to help her calm down her giggles.

"There may be decency laws against that," Naoto said. "I suggest you check first. Dojima-san may know for sure."

"I've only gone swimming twice this whole year," Souji said with a sigh.

"And it was Kanji who had the wardrobe malfunction," Yosuke remarked. "Wait, why are we talking about this!?"

"It's way more interesting than the story about how Senpai caught the Guardian," Rise pointed out. "Uh, no offense, Senpai!"

"Which Guardian?" Souji asked. "River or Sea?"

"There was more than one? Uh, just pass the wasabi, will you? Thanks." Rise applied a liberal amount of wasabi to every piece of sushi on her plate. After she ate a piece, she gushed on about how good it was.

But Souji's mind was apparently focused on swimming. "We'll have to go to the beach again sometime."

"Oh!" Rise exclaimed, a wasabi-caked piece of sushi halfway to her mouth. "We should make plans for Golden Week! You are coming back for Golden Week, right Senpai?"

"I'll try my best," Souji promised.

Rise popped the sushi into her mouth and pushed aside her plate to pull out a school planner and opened it to the appropriate page. "Well, Senpai, you'll probably get here either Wednesday night or Thursday morning," she reported, "so our plans should begin then. Maybe we'll go out to lunch. Or we could have another picnic! Oh, but Senpai shouldn't have to cook again. Maybe we could—"

"The food's on me," Yosuke interrupted quickly.

"But we know you can't cook!" Chie said, glaring at him.

"Give him a chance," Souji said. "I think he'll surprise you."

Chie's eyes went wide. "Have you been giving him lessons?"

"Nnnnn," Yosuke began, then bit his tongue. He wasn't sure how much he'd lie to get out of Mystery Food X: Round 2. He settled on saying, "You'll see." Truthfully, he'd probably just order Aiya for everyone. Chie couldn't very well complain about that.

"Okay, so, picnic if it's not raining, food courtesy of Yosuke-senpai." Rise wrote it down on the planner. "If it is raining... Movies instead?"

"N-no, not the movies," said Yosuke. "We're all gonna wanna catch up with Souji. Can't do that in a place we can't talk."

"Oh, I thought you'd like that, Yosuke-senpai! The theater is dark, and you can have a lot of fun in the dark~" Rise teased.

Yosuke pointedly ignored both her and the way Souji began to teasingly stroke his hand under the table.

Naoto spoke up. "I believe Dojima-san wouldn't mind if we brought the picnic indoors if needed."

"You mean just having it at his place?" Yosuke mused. "It would probably work."

They spent some time coming up with further ideas and discarding the more ridiculous ones. The girls collectively decided against the beach—that was what summer was for—and a trip to the Amagi Inn's hot springs was also out of the question because it would be busy with customers over the holiday. They decided to have one day focus on simply walking around the town. It didn't sound fun when written on paper, but it was what Souji liked best: being able to see people, and then it could include people outside the team.

When the schedule was filled out, Rise took a picture of it with her phone's camera and emailed it to everyone. "There! Now everyone knows the plan."

"Sounds good to me," Yosuke commented, not looking up from the plate of sushi he was slowly working on. His partner really was the best. None of his pieces had any fish or tofu.

Yukiko began to laugh. Instead of trying to calm her down, Chie began to laugh with her. "Y- Yosuke," Chie gasped. "Did you even look at the schedule?"

"Not really, I mean, Golden Week is so far away, plans are gonna change..." He frowned down at the paper that Rise now slid towards him. She was grinning so wickedly that her nose was wrinkled.

On the schedule, Rise had marked off 10pm to 10am with 'Souji-senpai & Yosuke-senpai private time~~~ Don't ask~~~.' Several hearts were drawn around it.

Yosuke gave the laughing girls a flat stare and told them it wasn't funny, but that only made them laugh harder. He opened his mouth to complain, but Souji kissed him, and that made him stammer. "N-not in front of everyone!" he squeaked. "Besides, I'm not even..."

Souji tilted his head. "Not even...?"

"Err," said Yosuke, lowering his gaze to his plate of half-eaten sushi. "S-sorry, I spoke without thinking again."

"You're not going to get away with that, Yosuke!" Chie said. "We all heard you. 'Not even' what?"

Yosuke emitted a resigned sigh. "It's just that..." he began miserably.

"What's wrong, Yosuke-senpai?" Rise asked.

"I'm not even happy with that schedule. It's not a good time. That time you marked off."

"It's not?" Rise gave him the most skeptical look she could manage. "It's night time!"

"Exactly," he said. "Souji, he... he always falls asleep."

Rise blinked at him for a moment, and then laughed. "I didn't know you were that boring in bed, Yosuke-senpai!"

"It-It's not like that!" Yosuke retorted. "Dammit, I knew I shouldn't have said anything..."

"That is too much information," Chie remarked. "Although we did kind of ask for it."

"I'm... I'm sorry..." Souji murmured. "I didn't know it was a problem. You could have told me. I would've made an effort to stay awake for you."

Yosuke shook his head. "I figure if you fall asleep, it's because you need the rest. I don't... I don't really mind it, but..." He looked at Rise. "Just two hours earlier on one of the days. Is that possible?"

"Yosuke-senpai," Rise began, then paused, a thoughtful look on her face, like she was possibly going to probe for more information. Then she smiled. "Of course."

"Oh... really?"

"You're right. This isn't set in stone. Who knows what'll happen when Golden Week finally rolls around? I'm going on my comeback tour soon, so I might not even be able to come."

"What, really?" Yosuke said, leaning his head back in surprise.

"Yes, really. Which is why... I'm so glad Senpai made this sushi for us! It was my request, did you know that? And it's sooo goood." Rise ate another eye-wateringly wasabi-laden piece.

Yosuke moved a piece of sushi around on his plate with his chopsticks. Rise was leaving Inaba. And so was Souji, and... Their whole group really wasn't going to be the same, was it? "H-hey, Naoto. Are you going to stay in Inaba? Now that the school year's over..."

The detective canted her head to the side. "Unless a case comes up that requires my urgent attention, I plan to continue my education here."

His shoulders slumped a little in relief. He wasn't particularly close to Naoto or anything... but at least most of the team would still be together. Not that he and Yukiko and Chie would have all that much free time to hang out as a group outside of studying, if their teachers were to be believed about the third year workload.

Now he began to worry about whether or not he'd be in the same homeroom as the two girls when the next term started. What would he do if he didn't have Chie to poke him awake when he drifted off? What would Yukiko do if Chie wasn't there to calm her down when she started laughing at something. Though admittedly, without Chie, she might not laugh much at all.

There were only three homeroom classes, which wasn't too many compared to the city. So the chance that they'd be together was...

He was in the middle of trying to do some mental math to figure it out when Souji interrupted. "Umm, can you finish your sushi?"

Yosuke blinked and noticed that Rise, Chie, and Yukiko were no longer at the table. Huh... when had they left? Kanji was away, too, but Yosuke soon spotted him by the river, playing a ball game with Teddie. Most of the table had been cleared off—only Yosuke's plate was left.

"Oh... I think I'm not hungry anymore, partner," he said.

Souji gave him a sympathetic look, then reached over and took away his plate.

* * *

How could it be Tuesday already? Yosuke stared at the date listed on his phone's screen. March 20th? It couldn't be.

But it was. Souji's last full day in Inaba.

What the hell had happened to Monday? He had some vague memories of taping up boxes, and his closet at home was now overstuffed with Souji's old Yasogami uniforms. Cookies had been involved at some point, too, because Teddie had been gushing this morning about Sensei's skill at cooking them.

 _And that was all he knew._

How did that much time pass, and so fast? And he hadn't said anything, he hadn't said what he wanted to say to Souji and now...

Now he just had to wait for said boy to get done saying goodbye to everyone in town. Yosuke sighed to himself and looked up at the clear sky above. He was sitting at a table in the Junes food court, losing ever more time.

Souji had promised him there'd be alone time later. Yosuke didn't have any more chances. Was it even worth saying now? He'd look desperate and maybe it was too soon in their relationship or maybe it was too late...

Augh.

To distract himself from his growing anxiety, he began to look through the pictures he'd accumulated on his phone. He didn't have as many pictures of Souji as he'd thought.

Here was a picture he'd taken of Souji standing next to the big TV at Junes, the one they used to enter the TV World. He'd tried to get Souji to pose in front of it with a golf club, but he'd refused for some reason. Souji had ended up standing there with his hand resting on the TV's upper frame, like he was patting it for being good. What amused Yosuke the most about the picture was how careful his friend was not to touch the TV's screen.

Ah, in this one Souji was taking on the Aiya Rainy Day Mega Beef Bowl Challenge. Chie was forcing beef-laden chopsticks into his mouth. Despite the sickly look on his face in the picture, he'd had actually won that day. More power to him!

Here was a cute one of Teddie cuddling up next to Souji in his floor futon at the ski lodge. Silly bear loved his Sensei, huh?

The next one was a group picture he'd taken after they'd saved Marie. The strange girl was clinging to Souji like, well, like she liked him. It was Rise all over again, wasn't it? Haha...

Oh, here was Souji on Valentine's Day, all wrapped up in blankets under the kotatsu. The poor guy had gotten sick with a cold that was probably induced from the time they'd been trapped in that cabin in that blizzard on the ski trip, and then worsened by the following day spent running through Marie's dungeon. Because of that cold, Souji had skipped school and missed out on all his chocolates. As a result, Yosuke hadn't been able to make use of Nanako-chan's 'hot tip' that Souji didn't like chocolate. It was quite a shame, but it wasn't like Yosuke'd really wanted to get him anything for Valentine's anyway. He wasn't a girl!

Ah, he didn't want to think about that right now, so he flipped to the next picture.

Which was his favorite picture, though he'd never admit it to anyone. It was just a picture of Souji sleeping peacefully in his futon. He was cute when he was asleep, okay...?

He stared at that picture, time trickling past him.

"Yosukeeeeeeee!" cried an all-too-familiar voice. He looked up to see Teddie in his costume heading towards him. "Can I have a soda?"

"Teddie," he said with a sigh. "Yeah, sure."

He did even better than a soda: he bought Teddie a Topsicle, too.

"You're so generous today!" the bear remarked. He moved into Yosuke's personal space and whispered too-loudly, "What happened to the real Yosuke?"

"It's all me, Ted," Yosuke said with another sigh, running his nails through his floppy hair. "And there's no catch. Just work hard, okay?"

"I always work hard!" Teddie claimed. "At least for the ladies." He quieted for a moment, and his big eyes blinked at Yosuke. "Yosuke? Is Sensei really leaving?"

"Ted..."

"Where's he going, Yosuke? They say he lives somewhere else, but... isn't Nana-chan's house his real home?"

"...I don't actually know where he lives now," Yosuke admitted.

The costume's eyes widened. "He's your honeybear and you don't know where he lives?"

"H-honeybear!? Ted, where the heck did you come up with that?"

"Papa-mura called Mama-mura that one night when she cooked his favorite meal," Teddie reported. "And then she kissed him!"

Yosuke sighed. Too much information! He could've lived without knowing that about his parents.

Honeybear? A spark of memory came to him, a memory of his childhood. His mother was the mama bear, and his dad was the papa bear, and he was the baby bear. Wow, what had happened to those nicknames his family used to use for each other? Well, they were kind of embarrassing...

But huh, maybe it was fitting that he was the one taking care of Teddie.

"Look," he said, trying to get back on topic, "even Souji doesn't know where he is going—huh?" His phone began to ring. The boy in question was calling him. "Hang on, Ted. What's up, partner?"

"Yosuke, umm..."

"Sensei!"

"Yeah, I'm here," Yosuke said. "So's Ted—calm down you crazy bear!" He expertly kept the phone away from the team mascot. "Partner, are you still there?"

There was a pause that made him think the call got dropped, but then he heard Souji very quietly say, "Yosuke? Something just came up."

Bad news... His throat began to tighten. It's okay, he told himself. Maybe it just means we'll have to meet up later than planned. That's no big deal. "Wh-what is it, partner?"

His partner's voice remained almost inaudible. "Can you gather everyone at the food court? See, I received a letter this morning..."

* * *

Yosuke didn't sleep at all that night. It wasn't from the horror of what they'd had to fight, although indeed that thing had been horrifying—he'd shut away those memories for the moment. No, what had priority right now wasn't horror but a cocktail of anger, frustration, and sadness. Because of that damned final battle, he'd never gotten that alone time with Souji. He'd never been able to say it.

Now time was up.

Here he was, up bright and early at the train station with the others. None of them had been able to sleep much, he noticed with a cursory glance. Naoto was continuously rubbing her eyes, not from tears but from tiredness, and she had a rather large coffee with her. Rise, on the other hand, was already dabbing her eyes with a tissue. Kanji seemed as stoic as ever, and Chie and Yukiko were standing quietly together, Teddie somehow allowed between them.

Souji himself wasn't even there yet, and as they waited for him to show up, Yosuke wondered for a hopeful moment what would happen if he missed the train, but it didn't take long before Dojima's car arrived and he stepped out of it with Nanako. Of course he wouldn't miss the train, that had been a stupid thought.

"Hey," Souji greeted, setting his duffel bag on the ground for a moment.

Silence followed. No one knew what to say.

Then Dojima broke it with an awkward chuckle. "Well, I know everyone's going to miss you, Souji. You've still got a few minutes. Why don't you say your goodbyes?"

A few minutes? Yosuke sighed. That was hardly enough time, and with everyone gathered, there was no privacy.

An elbow nudged him. He looked and found Chie smiling sadly at him. Although she didn't know the details of his turmoil, she could guess what he was feeling. He met her eyes for a moment and then looked away.

Souji cleared his throat, drawing everyone's attention, but when he opened his mouth to speak, nothing came out. He tried again, but the problem persisted. Yosuke almost stepped in to cover for him, but eventually he breathed a simple, "Th-thank you. Everyone."

Now Chie set her hands on her hips. "Silly! You don't have to thank us for anything!"

Souji's overly-tense posture relaxed as everyone chimed in, saying what needed to be said and taking the pressure away from him.

"She's right, Souji-kun," Yukiko followed. "Without you, I might not be here."

"Damn right, Senpai," Kanji agreed. "You saved all our asses. You're the man!"

"Indeed," said Naoto with a nod. "We should be thanking you, senpai. It was your resolve that saw us through to the end."

"P-please don't," Souji managed. "I only did what was right."

"Yeah, but you trusted us, and you led us, even when things got rough," Yosuke added, finding his own voice. "Not everyone would've done that. You're, umm, amazing, y'know."

"Aww, is Yosuke-senpai blushing?" Rise teased.

"He's as red as a cherry Topsicle!" Teddie declared.

"I am not!"

"Oh, Sensei's face is red too!" the bear observed. "Is it catching?"

"S-sorry," Souji murmured. "I'm just... really happy that I met all of you. I know I'll think of you all every day."

"Goes both ways, Senpai," Kanji said. He wiped his nose with the back of his hand.

The station blared a boarding announcement. A-already? Yosuke bit his lip hard and mentally cursed Dojima-san for buying such an early train ticket.

"Ah, that's... that's my sign to go," Souji murmured. He picked up his duffel bag and turned towards the train, but hesitated before going on. "Umm..."

Teddie suddenly tackled him in a hug from behind. With an exasperated sigh, Yosuke tried to pull him off, but then Nanako was there, and then Rise was there, and it turned into a big group hug. Dojima had to be the one to break it up. He pushed Souji onto the train and restrained Nanako from trying to join him there, and moments later the train's door closed.

Souji looked through the window from the other side of the door, his eyes shining with unshed tears. He lifted a hand to wave at them as the train began to chug away.

And the reality dawned on Yosuke in that very moment.

 _Souji was leaving._

"N-no," Yosuke whimpered.

He walked after the train, his walk turning into a jog and then outright running to keep up as it picked up speed.

Partner, no...

His friends were running with him and shouting their own words of affection and reassurance. He hardly noticed them.

It was his last chance, wasn't it? His last chance to tell him...!

With the train nearly out of sight, his feet at the very edge of the platform, the words finally escaped from his throat.

"Partner—! I love you!"

He barely manage to keep to his feet and not fall over the edge. Tears streamed down from his eyes, blurring his vision. "I love you," he whispered to the wind.

Whether Souji had heard him or not... Well, it didn't matter.

He would tell him in person the next time they met.

* * *

[AN: And as the train goes off into the distance, 'Shine' from RWBY starts to play (youtube url: rxt7TexggGE). Or maybe not. My best friend pointed out that it's a great SouYo song, hehe. This chapter's title came from it.

So, yeah! It was a long time coming, but here it is, the end of this little SouYo series!

It has been a very interesting experience. Honestly, I didn't have any interest in the boy's love genre at all until I started reading Persona 4 fanfiction on AO3. The first SouYo I read was scatter's "There's No Need to Go It Alone," and at the time, I was weirded out by it. Souji loves Yosuke... what...? It kinda racked my mind, haha, but then I was curious and looked for more, so from there I read scatter's other works, Chocchi's "Close Calls," and Chisotahn's "Ten Steps," and several others until I came to the realization that I really loved these two dorks. (I recommend all of those for anyone looking for more, hehe)

Then I ran out of stuff to read, so I wanted to try my hand at writing it myself, and that's where the first chapter, "Like Amazake," came from. When writing stories, I tend to get focused on the how and why. I was trying to answer how the two would even get together and figured that it made sense to be after the game's main events. Why not a holiday like New Years? The game even had a relevant cutscene for it!

It was just going to be a one-shot, but my friend encouraged me to continue, so I wrote more and more, hehe. As I kept going, I decided that there are already plenty of stories exploring the homophobia aspect, so in the later installments of the series I tried to focus more on Yosuke realizing how important his partner is to him instead of worrying about 'the gay.' I hope it worked, haha.

Anyway! I think this is where I want to end the series. Anything more I write for these two will probably be, uhh, one-shots of the 'too hot for ffnet' variety, heh heh. It was hard enough to keep the series T-rated to the end! Really, I've been into this pairing for over a year now. I can hardly believe it!

Thank you, thank you, for reading!]


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